In 2025, James Gunn’s Superman was the highest-grossing comic book adaptation of the year, earning more than a trio of new Marvel Cinematic Universe installments. That commercial success coupled with positive word of mouth got the new DC Universe franchise off to a strong start, but whatever forward momentum Superman established came to a screeching halt this summer with Supergirl. Hamstrung by its mixed reception, Supergirl was a box office bomb, grossing only $125.9 million worldwide as of this writing. That performance has led to questions about what the future could hold for DC, and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav has taken the time to address the matter.
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Speaking on an earnings call (via The Wrap), Zaslav expressed excitement for upcoming DC projects like Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow and Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II. “On the DC side, James is focused on Man of Tomorrow. I saw some pictures yesterday that looked amazing,” he said. “Actually, yesterday was James’ birthday, and he’s out working. He’s working 16, 18 hours a day. It looks fantastic. We’re super excited about it. Matt Reeves, I spoke to over the weekend, and he’s working very hard on Batman.”
The Wrap notes that Zaslav “declined to address Supergirl directly” and didn’t make any mention of the 10-year plan DC Studios co-heads Gunn and Peter Safran are working on, but Zaslav remains optimistic. “We have Clayface coming up soon, which looks terrific. We got Lanterns launching in the next few weeks on HBO, which Casey [Bloys] and Sarah [Aubrey] are super excited about. So DC feels very good, and we have a robust pipeline, and Peter and James are hard at work,” he said.
DC Can Rebound After Supergirl‘s Box Office Disappointment
There’s no way to sugarcoat Supergirl‘s box office run. The film was never projected to be one of the summer’s highest earners, but it failed to meet its modest expectations; at one point, domestic opening weekend estimates were in the $50+ million range, but Supergirl actually grossed $37.1 million. The fact that it isn’t even going to hit $200 million globally is a massive disappointment, but it isn’t the death knell for the DCU as a whole like some people have made it out to be. Supergirl should probably lead to some re-evaluations behind the scenes when it comes to production process and which characters headline tentpole films, but up until Supergirl, the DC was in a good place with a series of well-received projects on both the big and small screens.
With Lanterns, Clayface, and Man of Tomorrow on the way, there’s a chance that a year from now, Supergirl is considered a bump on the road instead of a harbinger of things to come. All three of the DCU’s upcoming projects have strong selling points that could make them a success. Lanterns is aiming to bring HBO-level prestige with its sci-fi crime drama spin on the Green Lantern mythos; Clayface is an intriguing R-rated body horror movie that’s in position to thrive at the box office with its low budget and perfect release date; as for Man of Tomorrow, Gunn’s track record as a director is strong. Dating back to his time at Marvel with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has continuously demonstrated he has a knack for telling these kinds of stories, embracing comic book sensibilities in a way that still resonates with general audiences. Man of Tomorrow is juggling a large ensemble cast, but that’s nothing new for Gunn.
All that said, the future DCU slate is arguably under more pressure than before following Supergirl‘s lackluster box office run. One disappointment can be written off as a blip on the radar, but if DC strings together multiple disappointments over the next year, then serious questions about the DCU will be raised. Lanterns, Clayface, and especially Man of Tomorrow need to deliver so Zaslav’s votes of confidence are rooted in something more concrete. The CEO isn’t going to say anything bad about upcoming DC projects before they’re released. Zaslav is publicly saying what he’s supposed to but if Lanterns polarizes viewers or Man of Tomorrow falls short of topping Superman at the box office, he could be singing a different tune.
The cloud hanging over all of this is the pending WB/Paramount merger, which still has some legal obstacles to overcome before it’s finalized. Should the merger be approved and new leadership takes over, they could decide to take things in a different direction (Gunn and Safran’s contracts reportedly expire either at the end of 2026 or 2027). If the DCU rebounds from Supergirl and rides a hot streak into the merger, then the higher-ups could be inclined to keep things as they are so they don’t upset the apple cart.
Supergirl’s Failure Proves We Have the Wrong Expectations For the DCU
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