Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
The DC Universe was launched with the promise of quality by James Gunn, the co-CEO of DC Studios. No film, he assured fans, would enter production without a script that everyone was satisfied with. The implication was the broader superhero cinema, and the preceding DC Extended Universe, had stopped prioritizing good storytelling. However, the critical and commercial failure of Supergirl, the second installment of Gunn and Peter Safran‘s franchise, has blown the lid off the issues that continue to plague studio-mandated franchise movies. It was reported last week that Gunn and director Craig Gillespie didn’t see eye to eye on Supergirl‘s final cut, resulting in a movie that left most audiences shrugging their shoulders. A common complaint about Supergirl is that it is too generic to stand out, and almost as a collective response, fans are now revisiting one of the most unconventional products of the superhero era.
According to FlixPatrol, Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel emerged as one of the most popular titles on the domestic iTunes chart in the week of Supergirl’s release. Snyder’s movie served as the first installment of the DCEU, which was created in response to the record-breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe. The early mission statement was to produce director-driven movies that could stand on their own, without having to rely foundationally on each other. However, Snyder’s grounded take on Superman divided critics, and each subsequent installment of the franchise became a reaction to the previous movie.
Here’s How Much ‘Supergirl’ Has Grossed So Far
Starring Henry Cavill , Man of Steel grossed $670 million worldwide against a reported budget of $225 million. When Gunn took over and orchestrated a new franchise to replace the DCEU, he decided that the first installment would be a rebooted Superman movie directed by himself. He thanked Cavill for his services and cast David Corenswet as a more hopeful Clark Kent. While his movie was better-received by critics, it grossed under $620 million worldwide. Man of Steel now holds a 56% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, but it certainly seems to have more fans than Supergirl . The new movie holds a similar 54% score but has virtually no chance of hitting the $100 million mark in its domestic box-office run. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
