Reed Morano circling Supergirl movie

Filmmaker Reed Morano has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to direct the planned movie return of Supergirl.

Warner Bros and DC Comics bosses announced plans to develop a big screen project based on the superheroine earlier this month (Aug18), with 22 Jump Street screenwriter Oren Uziel brought on board to pen the script.

Now, according to TheGWW.com, the Emmy-winning The Handmaid's Tale director is among those considered frontrunners to take charge of the new franchise, which will centre on Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El.

According to comic book lore, she was a teenager when she escaped the doomed planet Krypton.

Supergirl was previously played on the big screen by Helen Slater in 1984, and she is currently being portrayed on TV by former Glee star Melissa Benoist.

Casting details for the new movie adaptation have yet to be revealed, and it's not known if it will serve as an origin story, or somehow be tied in to Zack Snyder's 2013 movie, Man of Steel.

If Morano signs on, she won't be the first female filmmaker to be handed the reins of a DC superhero blockbuster - Patty Jenkins is currently working on the follow-up to her 2017 smash hit Wonder Woman, with Gal Gadot as the titular warrior, while Cathy Yan has been tapped to direct Margot Robbie's Suicide Squad spin-off, Birds of Prey.

There have also been significant appointments at rival comic book giant Marvel - Anna Boden is co-directing the Captain Marvel movie with Ryan Fleck, and Berlin Syndrome filmmaker Cate Shortland is set to shoot the Black Widow standalone.