Supergirl

Warner Bros.

As just the second live-action film in James Gunn’s DCU, Supergirl is a key feature for the burgeoning universe. Supergirl is focused on a character who has only seen a handful of live-action iterations, especially compared to her more famous cousin. Her appereances range from Smallville/The Flash guest spots to her longest tenure on her own “Arrowverse” show starring Melissa Benoist, which ran for a full six seasons and 126 episodes. But on film? This is easily Kara’s biggest moment.

But things are starting to wobble. Gunn himself was so excited about the Supergirl script from Nogueira that he then put her on the upcoming, all-important Wonder Woman, but a few days ahead of release, box office tracking is dropping, and the recently embargo-dropped social media impressions are mixed, at best.

Deadline, in a report about how a $100 million promo partner campaign is DC’s biggest ever, notes that Supergirl box office projections are now between $50 and $55 million domestically, less than half of Superman’s $125 million, with other analysts believing it could slide below that. Superman went on to earn $618 million worldwide, all the way down in 10th place for 2025. Not ideal for one of the most popular superheroes in the world debuting an entirely new DC universe. Now, Supergirl is tracking well below that.

Social media impressions are far from stellar. Here’s a sampling from critics and influencers who were able to see the film early:

• Eric Goldman – “Supergirl is just okay. [Director] Craig Gillespie, who's made several things I've liked, doesn't really mesh with the material, and not enough of the action scenes fully come to life. On the other hand, there's some good character moments, flashbacks included, and Milly Alcock is great.”
• Nikko Caruso – “Milly Alcock is exceptional in a movie that’s otherwise disappointing. A movie that gets in its own way more times than I could count. An engaging tone & some great emotional beats are held back by an inconsistent script, a cringe Jason Momoa performance, & one of the worst CBM villains you’ll ever see. This character, and especially Alcock, needed much better treatment.”
• Jones Vibes – “Supergirl had the potential to be a solid B level superhero movie, but is ruined by one terrible needle drop after another. Milly turns in a great performance but I can’t help but feel like she deserves such a better film to be introduced. It’s GotG mixed with Whedon’s JL. YIKES”

There are a number of common threads here, namely that Milly Alcock is great in the role, but the villain Krem is terrible, and Craig Gillespie’s directing is lacking. For every very positive review, there is a very negative one, and most hover somewhere in the middle. There’s a general lack of excitement for the most part.

Actual reviews, which will produce a numerical Rotten Tomatoes score, will arrive later this week, closer to release. It should be noted that a just okay or medium-good movie can be beloved by audiences. Superman had an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score, not amazing in the scale of say, MCU movies across the pond, though it had a very good 90% audience score.

But if we’re talking about overall box office, if Supergirl makes $300 million or so, that is less than ideal, and Gunn will then be relying heavily on his own Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, out next year, to turn things around. An interim DCU project, Clayface, is a radical, tone-departing horror film out this fall, mercifully co-written by horror legend Mike Flanagan. Even if that doesn’t set the box office on fire, at least it has the potential to be great. And that’s certainly what the DCU needs right now, to rise above just being average, and generate excitement for the DCEU-replacing world that is meant to carry the next decade of the brand for WB.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.