The struggles of Supergirl are giving DCEU fans major deja vu. Box-office woes, creative conflict, and now rumors of multiple “final” cuts of the film all sound painfully familiar. Now, Is history repeating itself? Should fans expect a Snyder Cut-style redo?
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Opening to just $37.1 million – less than “Joker: Folie a Deux,” ouch – Supergirl didn’t fly this weekend. Between financial woes, polarized reviews, and questions about what a flop might mean for the James Gunn DCU, postmortems have already begun on a movie that only hit theaters June 26
One of the most startling stories to slip out from behind the scenes is that, virtually up until the release date, Supergirl existed in two competing, meaningfully different cuts: one from director Craig Gillespie, and one edited by the studio that hit theaters
Production insiders told Hollywood Reporter that the Supergirl creative team had ongoing conflicts of vision. Per thoseriction that led to new ideas. By December 2025, however, the situation had worsened to the point of endangering the film’s production. The core issue seems to have been a difference in overall vision between director Craig Gillespie and the DC Studios team led by producer James Gunn
According to resolving the conflict: they didn’t. Under the guidance of two different editors, Tatiana S. Riegel and Fred Raskin, Supergirl split in two. Riegel is a longtime Gillespie collaborator, having edited Cruella, I, Tonya, and Lars and the Real Girl. Raskin cut all three Guardians of the Galaxy films and the Peacemaker TV show for Gunn
The cuts were sufficiently different – and the creative conflict on the film was sufficiently entrenched – that DC took both cuts to test audiences. The studio’s take as edited by Raskin outperformed the Riegel/Gillespie version… by 2 points. Interestingly, test audiences for both versions were impressed with pacing and song choice, which some Supergirl reviewers (and audiences) have criticized
Where’s the Supergirl Gillespie Cut?
Given that Supergirl seems to have been treated as two different movies throughout production, both dogged by unresolved creative differences between the director and the studio team, DC fans are likely experiencing a shudder of unwelcome recognition. Many of the problems of Supergirl sound just like Justice League, right down to the differing cuts and wildly polarized reviews. Many of those fans are understandably miffed at a film showing production problems the studio and creative team should have outgrown ten years ago.
At the same time, the Justice Leaguecomparison might show a way forward. That movie won back a fair share of fans and goodwill after the release of the gargantuan Snyder Cut
Per an X post by film critic Dan Marcus, while the two Supergirl cuts eventually converged prior to release, there were still significant differences, Gillespie’s cut apparently included an alternate opening and more backstory. It remains to be seen if a Gillespie Cut of Supergirl exists, and if so, whether audiences care to see it. But between the success of the Snyder Cut, upcoming projects featuring breakout DCEU stars like Mr. Terrific, and 2025’s Superman turning early performance concerns into audience and streaming success, there’s still hope for a Supergirl of tomorrow.
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