Taylor Swift is being lined up to play Supergirl

The 'Love Story' singer – whose music albums have sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of 2009 in the United States – is reportedly the hot favourite of movie bosses desperate to bring the Girl of Steel back to the big screen, despite the original 1984 movie being a critical and box office flop.

A source said: "Hollywood is short of female heroes and the time is right for a new Supergirl.

"A number of young stars are being mentioned for the title role in a 'Supergirl' movie and possible TV spin-off and Taylor is top of that list. She has all the right elements to be a positive role model to young girls."

The 20-year-old star – who will make her feature film acting debut as Samantha Kenny in the film 'Valentines Day' next year – recently showed off her performance skills as a guest on hit US TV show 'Saturday Night Live'.

The character of Supergirl – alias Kara Zor-El – first appeared in comic books in 1959. Helen Slater played the title character in the 1984 'Supergirl' movie, a spin-off of the 'Superman' film series.