James Gunn’s DC Universe launched with a genuine hit in Superman. Then came Supergirl — and the momentum stalled hard. The film is tracking to lose Warner Bros. Discovery somewhere between $100 and $120 million, and critics have been harsh. That’s not just a bad opening. It’s an early warning sign for the entire DC Studios strategy.
The Supergirl movie, loosely based on Tom King’s Woman of Tomorrow comics, follows Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) on an interstellar bender that starts with her dog getting poisoned by sex-trafficking pirates. It’s a wild premise. Unlike her cousin, Supergirl doesn’t have much of a problem killing people who get in her way — especially when Krypto’s life is on the line.
The problem? Critics say the movie struggles to make Kara feel distinct from Superman. From the needle drops to the focus on distressed animals, it feels like James Gunn playing to his own strengths. Drunken bar brawls and junky starships look like they could’ve been pulled straight from Guardians of the Galaxy. Jason Momoa shows up as bounty hunter Lobo in what amounts to a distracting cameo. The humor has Gunn’s fingerprints all over it, for better or worse.
Here’s the real concern: Supergirl was supposed to anchor the first wave of the new DCU. After Superman, the plan was to build out the universe with interconnected stories. But after Supergirl’s underperformance, the slate ahead — including a Clayface film — doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Gunn asked fans to trust his vision. That trust is now being tested a lot sooner than anyone expected.
Warner Bros. Discovery has a long history of comic book movie mismanagement. The DCU was supposed to be the clean reboot that fixed all of that. One hit and one flop in, the jury’s still out.
