How Supergirl Stumbled and is the DCU in Trouble?

Courtesy of DC Studios

Supergirl is the second movie in the DCU, this time directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, and David Corenswet. Supergirl gets mixed up in a young girl’s quest for revenge when Krypto is poisoned, and Supergirl is racing to get the cure before it’s too late. After the strong start the DCU had with shows like Creature Commandos and Peacemaker, and James Gunn’s Superman, fans are hoping Supergirl can continue the streak. How does it fare out?

Supergirl is the definition of a mixed-bag comic book movie. On one hand, some of the performances work, mainly Milly Alcock, Jason Momoa, and David Corenswet. Milly does well in playing a broken but finding her way Supergirl, who is doing all she can to get the cure for Krypto. The flashback sequences with her are some of the best parts of the movie. Her action sequences, while not the best, are entertaining and stand out in the third act. Jason Momoa as Lobo is entertaining and the best performance of the movie. How he looks as Lobo is pulled off well. David Corenswet appears a few times as Superman and, despite having a smaller role, brings in the same charm he did in last year’s Superman movie. The movie does well in making the audience hate the villain, Krem, so much. Some scenes look well shot. Some humor and dramatic moments work.

Despite all of that, Supergirl also has many flaws. Outside of Alcock, Momoa, and Corenswet, the rest of the performances are forgettable. Most of the characters don’t stand out besides Supergirl, Lobo, and Superman. Krem, as a villain, feels like he belongs in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. While he does horrible things like killing families, poisoning Krypto, and being involved in trafficking, he tries too hard to be entertaining when he really isn’t and is better off being a detestable villain. The dialogue and how the actor playing him, Matthias Schoenaerts, delivers it are cringeworthy at best. Speaking of the MCU movie, it feels like Craig Gillespie was trying to make this similar to Guardians of the Galaxy, but couldn’t pull it off. The character Rutheye also comes across as annoying and wooden at times. It’s not Eve Ridley’s fault as an actress, as her lines and the character’s overall actions wouldn’t do any young actress playing her justice. Rutheye is the girl who wants revenge on Krem for killing her family, but she comes across as walking chaos, making every situation worse.

The script, while nowhere near the worst comic book scripts, is far from being the incredible script James Gunn was hyping up. Maybe Gunn thought it was great because the tone is similar to his usual tone for his own movie, but that shouldn’t define whether a script is good or not. The premise of a revenge quest combined with the heroine finding her way is a good one, but not properly executed when the other stuff in it isn’t clicking. The tone is all over the place. When it’s not trying to be a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it’s trying to be a Mad Max in space movie. Supergirl, as a movie, has no idea what it wants to be. It does have a good message of not letting revenge consume you and how you can find your way back after struggling.

A lot of fans are worried for the DCU as Supergirl has bombed at the box office, its opening weekend only making $65.5 million at the box office so far, with an over $170 million budget. This is a disappointment as Superman last year was a huge success and the highest-grossing comic book movie of 2025. This is the first DCU project to get mixed to negative reviews compared to the previous three well-received movies and shows. Considering this is the first project James Gunn wasn’t directing, this is not a promising sign for projects Gunn won’t be directing. Speaking of Gunn, there are questions on whether or not his taste in these projects, as well as giving the okay for these projects to go into development, is good or not, since he considered this script to be incredible. The fear fans have that DC and WB only get Batman and Superman movies right only gets stronger after this and won’t go away anytime soon.

At the same time, it is too early to panic. The DCU will not be cancelled as of now and is still in the beginning stages. Supergirl is only the second movie in the DCU and won’t be the only movie in 2026. Some fans believe even if Supergirl was better received and had better word of mouth, it would have struggled coming out between Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters, two animated movies coming from two successful franchises. There are other projects from the DCU coming out that have a lot of promise, from shows like Lanterns to movies like Clayface later this year and Man of Tomorrow next year. Rumors are growing that the actor playing the DCU version of Batman could be coming sooner than later. DC Studios seems eager to greenlight another project, a movie focused on DC villains Deathstroke and Bane. No directors are attached to it yet.

Overall, Supergirl feels like a step back for the DCU. Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa deliver in their performances and deserve a better movie. The action is entertaining, and there are some good emotional moments from the flashbacks to Supergirl and Krypto moments. A lot of characters are either forgettable, wooden, or over the top in a bad way. Hopefully, Lanterns and Clayface are a lot better.

My final grade for Supergirl is a C+. There have been a lot worse, but there has been a lot better. If you are a DC fan, it is worth checking out, but it’s nowhere near as good as Superman (2025). What are your thoughts on Supergirl? Let us know in the comments below.