How to Parse a Superhero Universe in this Post-MCU Era

As has been reported by multiple sources, Supergirl underperformed in its debut over the last weekend. Releasing the weekend of June 26, 2026, the film pulled in $68 Mil world wide. On a budget of upwards of $186 Mil, the figure it needs to break even is somewhere around $315 Mil in theaters, which it is unlikely to get to. By any account, that would make it a flop, with many stories saying the film “failed to fly” or was an “outright bomb”. That may or may not be true in the long run, depending on if the film finds legs (especially once the 2026 World Cup is over), but there’s no doubt that the film has strong headwinds against it that may lead to it failing to even recoup its money for the studio.

And it’s not just the World Cup working against the film. There’s also an “unseasonable” heat wave going through Europe right now, which is leading to people not wanting to hot box themselves in a theater without air conditioning. There’s also a slate of films still in theaters (like Toy Story 5, Obsession, and Backrooms) that are dominating people’s attention (and their wallets). Plus, again, superhero films aren’t performing now like they used to (just look at how the Marvel Cinematic UniverseWhen it first began in 2008 with a little film called Iron Man no one suspected the empire that would follow. Superhero movies in the past, especially those not featuring either Batman or Superman, were usually terrible. And yet, Iron Man would lead to a long series of successful films, launching the most successful cinema brand in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. struggles, especially when it’s releasing anything other than a SpidermanSure, DC Comics has Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but among the most popular superheroes stands a guy from Marvel Comics, a younger hero dressed in red and blue who shoots webs and sticks to walls. Introduced in the 1960s, Spider-Man has been a constant presence in comics and more, featured in movies regularly since his big screen debut in 2002. film). It’s no wonder that a new superhero film in an as yet unproven universe struggled to find an audience.

Bear in mind that SupergirlIntroduced in 1959 as a female counterpart for Superman, the Last Daughter of Krypton would go onto have a long career in the DC Universe, thriving, dying, coming back, all the eventually become an even more powerful superhero than even her famous cousin. doesn’t have the same cultural cachet as her cousin. While SupermanThe first big superhero from DC Comics, Superman has survived any number of pretenders to the throne, besting not only other comic titans but even Wolrd War II to remain one of only three comics to continue publishing since the 1940s. is one of the most popular characters in the world (he’s one of the “Trinity” at DC ComicsOne of the two biggest comic publishing companies in the world (and, depending on what big events are going on, the number one company), DC Comics is the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and just about every big superhero introduced in the 1930s and 1940s., alongside BatmanOne of the longest running, consistently in-print superheroes ever (matched only by Superman and Wonder Woman), Batman has been a force in entertainment for nearly as long as there's been an entertainment industry. It only makes sense, then that he is also the most regularly adapted, and consistently successful, superhero to grace the Silver Screen. and Wonder WomanLong considered the third pillar of the DC Comics "Trinity", Wonder Woman was one of the first female superheroes ever created. Running for as long as Batman or Superman (and without breaks despite a comic downturn in the 60s that killed superhero comics for about a decade), Wondie has the honor to be one of the longest serving, and most prolific, superheroes ever., with only Spider-man being at the same level when it comes to comic sales and cultural identity), Supergirl has always been viewed as something of an also-ran. Her most prominent role in the last four decades (since the release of the absolutely awful 1984 Supergirl) was in her self-titled television series, which ran for six seasons as part of the ArrowverseWhen it was announced that the CW was creating a show based on the Green Arrow, people laughed. The CW? Really? Was it going to be teen-oriented like everything else on the network and be called "Arrow High"? And yet that one show, Arrow has spawned three spin-offs, various related shows and given DC a successful shared universe, the Arrowverse on TV and streaming., and while that series has its fans, the viewing audience for the Arrowverse in general was small potatoes when compared to movie audiences.

Hell, when we look at raw numbers, even Superman struggled last year. It made $618.7 Mil against its $225 Mil budget, which were good enough numbers for it to be a success (even before you take into account toy sales, streaming licensing, and other ancillary revenue streams) but it wasn’t anywhere near as big as you’d expect from one of the biggest superheroes in the world. If Supes, backed by a generally well liked film, can’t get close to a Billion dollars at the Box Office, how’s his cousin supposed to come anywhere close to that?

The arguments being made online are that James Gunn and Peter Safran (the co-heads of DC Studios) should have released films based on Bats and Wondie before even bothering with “C-List” heroes. That is, functionally, what the old DC Extended UniverseStarted as DC Comics' answer to the MCU, the early films in the franchise stumbled out of the gates, often mired in grim-dark storytelling and the rushed need to get this franchise started. Eventually, though, the films began to even out, becoming better as they went along. Still, this franchise has a long way to go before it's true completion for Marvel's universe. did, putting out Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Wonder Woman back-to-back-to-back (more or less, with a Suicide Squad thrown in for some reason). And while that did work for the DCEU back in the day (all four of those films were financial successes, even if they weren’t critically beloved), it ended up leaving the franchise on shaky ground when Warner Bros. got cold feet of the direction those films were going, especially after Justice League outright bombed.

Gunn and Safran have said they’re doing something different. Their goal is not to redo the DCEU or even the MCU. They want the new cinematic universe they’re building to be able to stand on its own. They’re putting into production scripts that are complete and ready to film (which is why the Batman film, The Brave and the Bold, and the Wonder Woman series, Paradise Lost, are both still in early development: their scripts weren’t good enough), and they want to make sure that the groundwork for the cinematic is done without rushing anything. So we go from Superman last year to Supergirl spinning out of that film this year, and then a low-budget Clayface movie later this year (since its script was ready, too), along with a host of television shows to continue building out the world, without any kind of rushed crossover work in sight.

Safran has already said that Supergirl’s relative failure at the Box Office (which we’ll get back to in a second) hasn’t changed any plans for the current universe going forward. Clayface will still be followed by Man of Tomorrow next year, and Lanterns will still debut on HBO this Summer. The universe keeps rolling because, so far, WB still has faith that this cinematic project will pay off. It takes time to lay the sturdy groundwork for a good series, and after they rushed their last version out and basically made their whole brand toxic for years, WB seems willing to slow pace this time.

And let’s be clear, the underperformance of Supergirl in theaters doesn’t mean WB will lose money. All the same ancillary revenues that helped Superman after its initial release with buoy Supergirl as well. Likely by the end of the year the film will be in the black even if it leaves theaters in the red. And then her character will be available for Man of Tomorrow next year, and she can show up in further works down the road. Over time it’s likely that her film (which, while not a critical darling, is pretty well liked by fans, as reported on Cinemascore and Rotten Tomatoes) will find its audience, redeeming the film after its initial flip run.

I think Gunn and Safran are right to not worry just yet. There’s a lot of irons in the fire and every cinematic universe eventually has its highs and lows. While the DC UniverseThe successor to WB's failed cinematic universe, the DCEU. Headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran, this new DC Universe carries over some continuity from the former film and TV series while crafting a new, rebooted universe for the future. is being developed differently from the MCU, it’s still informative to go back and look at how Marvel’s early films performed. Iron Man was a solid success ($585 Mil Box Office take), but then The Incredible Hulk flopped ($265 Mil). Iron Man 2 helped right the ship ($623.9 Mil), before Thor ($449.3) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($370 Mil) did decent, but not spectacular numbers. But everyone remembers when The Avengers came out and made $1.52 Bil, and suddenly everyone was saying, “Marvel are a bunch of geniuses!” They got there because they had a plan and they let everything build to get to a spot where the cinematic universe just worked.

Even now, with Supergirl struggling, there’s still plenty of time for the DCU to find its same footing as the MCU. It has strong headwinds against it, especially with audiences struggling to care about superheroes, but there’s every chance that they could be swayed back around with a string of good films that win their hearts and minds. All it takes is time, and the willingness to play out a play over a few years without shaking things up out of fear. DC Studios has their plan, and so long as WB doesn’t get cold feet (maybe a big if, depending), we’ll see in a few years if Gun and Safran were “geniuses” or not.

What that all means is that, yes, Supergirl is something of a flop, in the short term anyway. But in the long run, it might just go on to be one of a number of well liked moves in a beloved series. Or it could be the canary in the coal mine before the whole DC Studios operation crumbles apart. It’s simply too early to tell, and any article that reports otherwise is just making stuff up.