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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Right now, there’s plenty of buzz for Spider-Man: Brand New Daythe new Marvel movie swinging into theaters July 31. But you don’t have to wait that long to watch some superhero shenanigans on the big screen. Supergirl premieres on June 26, and fans are eagerly awaiting the latest film in James Gunn’s growing DCU. Still, skeptics can’t help but wonder if this film will be able to match the epic vibes of Superman (2025) or if DC’s latest girlpower blockbuster will be a dud like Wonder Woman 1984.
Warner Bros. certainly feels confident about the movie. So confident, in fact, that they lifted its social media embargo early, allowing critics and influencers who had watched the film to share their thoughts online. Thus far, the studio’s confidence seems justified: most of the reviewers have been absolutely raving about Supergirl. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm may not be able to save a film that seems doomed to a mediocre box office performance.
Rave Reviews
What are the early impressions of Supergirl looking like? According to Den of Geek, “Supergirl is the superhero movie I’ve missed: a straightforward, poignant story with lots of emotion, especially when we see Kara through little Ruthye’s eyes. Luckily, that’s every action scene. Milly Alcock absolutely owns the role and will change our idea of Supergirl forever.” This sentiment is echoed by Gizmodo, which noted that Supergirl “doesn’t quite have the resonance of Superman…it acts as both a perfect companion and follow-up to that movie with better characters and more complex relationships.” On top of that, “It’s also incredibly emotional, which makes the action hit even harder.”
The emphasis on emotion makes it sound like the movie is a fitting follow-up to Supermanwhich proudly wore its heart on its sleeve. Despite similar themes and action scenes, though, it sounds like Supergirl is going to have an identity of its very own. According to Mike Ryan, the movie “is not at all what I was expecting. I, too, assumed ‘superhero space movie with needle drops’ would have a similar tone to [Guardians of the Galaxy] or even Superman. Instead, it looks and plays more like a Mad Max movie, with dirty worlds, gross villains, and a self-destructive hero.”
Killer Performances, Mediocre Box Office
One thing that almost everyone agrees on is that Milly Alcock does an amazing job as Supergirl. The same can be said of Jason Momoa, who is receiving nearly unanimous praise for his portrayal of the charismatic antihero Lobo. While this is a star-making turn for Alcock, not everyone thinks the film is worthy of her talents. This includes Discussion Film, who said that, “the film around her takes far too long to step into gear and never quite matches her energy.” These minor critiques aside, though, it seems like Supergirl is going to be a film with mass market appeal.
Does that mean its box office is going to go up, up and away? Sadly, no. Right now, the movie is projected to earn between $45 to $55 million in its opening weekend. That’s not an extremely low amount, but it’s still much, much lower than Superman’s $125 million, which went on to earn $618 million worldwide. If Supergirl’s overall box office is correspondingly low, it could be bad news for the DCU. Deadline reports that the movie will need to make $315 million just to break even. Considering how disappointing the box office for Masters of the Universe and The Mandalorian and Grogu (both lighthearted sci-fi blockbusters, like Supergirl), the Woman of Steel’s feature film debut could be doomed.
Should Supergirl disappoint at the box office, Warner Bros. will have the cold comfort of knowing that it was very well-received by critics. These early impressions make the film sound like it will be an action-packed, emotional thrill ride that lets Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa really stretch their acting chops. With any luck, good word of mouth may (Obsession-style) drive the box office higher than anyone could estimate. Otherwise, though, this movie’s failure will be seen as a failure of the DCU as a whole, cementing Marvel as the dominant superhero cinematic universe, once and for all. We’ll find out together when Supergirl premieres on June 26.
