A new industry take suggests the studio still has real concerns about Supergirl.
Puck News previously flagged James Gunn’s Supergirl as one of the red flags on Warner Bros.’ 2026 slate. Now the same outlet is escalating that view, describing the DCU movie as one of the studio’s “pricey risks.”
That’s not the kind of label you want attached to a superhero movie that’s supposed to help carry the future of James Gunn’s DCU, especially with the sale of WBD and new owners Paramount Skydance.
Supergirl Is Being Called A “Pricey Risk”
Puck’s latest comment came while discussing the collapse of The Bride!, the Maggie Gyllenhaal feminist movie that opened to a disastrous $7 million domestically against a reported budget of around $92 million.
While mocking Warner Bros.’ attempt to downplay the failure, Puck noted that the studio still has several expensive films on deck that come with serious risk. Supergirl was singled out by name.
Puck wrote: “Despite Warners’ successful run in 2025, that’s certainly an optimistic statement for a studio with a bunch of pricey risks like Supergirl, Tom Cruise’s Digger, and J.J. Abrams’s The Great Beyond on its ’26 slate.”
Puck is essentially suggesting that Warner Bros. sees Supergirl as a financial risk – not a sure thing – and it isn’t being framed as a breakout hit. It’s being treated by the industry like a movie that could easily disappoint.
Warner Bros Has Reason To Be Nervous
The concern makes sense. Supergirl has already faced backlash tied to the trailer, criticism over the tone, and questions about how closely it actually sticks to the Woman of Tomorrow source material.
Reports surrounding the movie have also been messy, with rumors about changes to the villain, Krem, and a general feeling that the film is leaning too hard into Gunn’s same offbeat formula he uses for everything, something that audiences have already started pushing back on (it’s all the same).
There is also the bigger issue hanging over all of this: Gunn’s Superman did not perform as the massive worldwide reset Warner Bros. likely wanted.
As a result, Supergirl now faces even more pressure, especially as another female-led superhero movie following box office failures like The Marvels and Madame Web (women don’t go to see superhero films).
The flick is also shaping up to be another divisive, message-driven project from Gunn (what his DCU seems to be all about for some reason). The formula already hurt Peacemaker, which lost nearly 40% of its audience in season two, the Lanterns trailer is also getting major backlash, and the approach didn’t work out for WB’s The Bride! either.
Marketing Looks Ready To Ramp Up In April
And while things have been quiet lately surrounding the film, that won’t last much longer.
DC has already teased that Supergirl will take over Superman Day, pointing to a marketing push starting in April. Warner Bros. will likely want to get ahead of the conversation surrounding the movie sooner rather than later, especially with Gunn also said to begin filming Man of Tomorrow around the same time.
Corenswet is slated to appear in Supergirl, so they’ll like use Man of Tomorrow production to promote Supergirl and vice versa.
The problem is that if the buzz stays weak or the reaction turns negative again, the studio could end up pouring more attention onto a movie the industry is already describing as risky. Supergirl could crash on the launch pad before she ever takes off.
Release Info
Supergirl gets released on June 26, 2026, directed by Craig Gillespie, written by Ana Nogueira, and stars Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, and Jason Momoa as Lobo.
