‘Supergirl’ Reveals the DCU’s Biggest Post-‘Superman’ Problem

When Superman premiered last year, it accomplished something the DC brand had struggled to find for years: a clear creative identity. James Gunn proved audiences were ready to embrace a version of DC that was colorful, optimistic, unabashedly comic book, and completely sincere. It was exactly the kind of reset the franchise needed after years of tonal uncertainty. That identity is one of the DCU’s greatest strengths, but it also carries its biggest risk.

After watching Supergirl, I’m less concerned about whether the movie succeeds on its own than I am about what it suggests for the future of the franchise. The movie introduces an excellent Kara Zor-El in Milly Alcock, but it also feels strangely hesitant to establish its own personality. Too often, it feels like it’s chasing the same rhythms that made Superman work rather than discovering what makes Supergirl unique. If that’s the template going forward, the DCU could end up making the same mistake every shared universe eventually faces: confusing consistency with sameness.

The DCU Needs an Identity, Not a Formula

There’s a reason Superman resonated with so many people, and it wasn’t simply because it was hopeful. It was because Gunn committed to a very specific vision from beginning to end. Every emotional beat, joke, action sequence, and supporting character felt like it belonged to the same filmmaker. Whether someone loved the movie or hated it, nobody walked away wondering whose voice they had just watched. That’s exactly what the opening chapter of a cinematic universe should accomplish. The problem is that a filmmaker’s voice isn’t something that can be copied by someone else. You can recreate the broad ingredients: offbeat humor, obscure comic references, heartfelt speeches, quirky side characters, licensed music. You can’t recreate the instincts behind them.

That’s where Supergirl stumbles. The movie frequently feels like it’s working from the outline of what a Gunn movie looks like without fully understanding why those choices worked in Superman. The result is a movie that often feels familiar but rarely surprising. Scenes unfold exactly as you’d expect them to, emotional moments arrive on schedule, and even the dialogue starts to feel predictable, as though every character is speaking with the same cadence. That’s not a franchise identity: that’s a formula.

Shared Universes Work Best When Directors Leave Their Fingerprints

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

The best cinematic universes don’t ask every filmmaker to make the same movie, they ask every filmmaker to tell a different story inside the same world. That’s why some of the strongest entries in the MCU still stand apart years later. Captain America: The Winter Soldier feels nothing like Guardians of the Galaxy. Black Panther has a completely different energy from both. They’re connected through continuity, but they’re driven by distinct creative voices. The DCU should want the same thing. That doesn’t mean abandoning the hopeful tone Gunn established, it means giving filmmakers permission to explore different genres, different visual styles, and different emotional perspectives while respecting the universe they’ve inherited.

Ironically, that’s exactly what DC Comics has always done well. Batman, Superman, Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl all inhabit the same universe on the page, but their stories rarely feel interchangeable. The characters shape the storytelling, not the other way around. That’s what Supergirl needed more of. Kara shouldn’t simply feel like she’s existing inside Superman’s creative shadow, she should have a perspective, rhythm, and emotional identity that belong entirely to her. Alcock gives the character that spark throughout the movie. The movie surrounding her never quite catches up.

James Gunn’s Biggest Job Isn’t Directing ‘Superman’ Anymore

Gunn has already proven he knows how to make a great DC movie. The bigger challenge is proving he knows how to build a universe where other filmmakers can make great DC movies, too. That’s an entirely different responsibility. If every project starts chasing the tone that made Superman or any of other Gunn’s superhero projects successful, audiences will eventually notice the repetition. One of the biggest advantages comic book adaptations have over almost every other franchise is the sheer variety of stories they can tell. The DCU should feel big enough for political thrillers, cosmic adventures, gothic horror, fantasy epics, and intimate character dramas to coexist. That’s how comic books have survived for generations.

Supergirl doesn’t convince me the DCU has found that balance yet. It feels caught between honoring Gunn’s vision and establishing one of its own. That’s a difficult line for any filmmaker to walk, but it’s also one the franchise has to figure out sooner rather than later. Because the future of the DCU shouldn’t depend on every director trying to make the next James Gunn movie, it should depend on finding filmmakers who understand these characters well enough to make them feel unmistakably like themselves.

Release Date

June 26, 2026

Runtime

108 minutes

Writers

Ana Nogueira

Producers

James Gunn, Lars P. Winther, Nigel Gostelow, Peter Safran

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