After a successful start, the new DC movie universe is already slowing down

Although expectations were high Super girlthe movie has become a piece of crap. The critics have been instead of under the monitorand his lackluster box office this function has a way to dispose of WBD somewhere between $100-120 million. Movies are always changing, and Super girl Disagreement with the audience probably won’t be much of a problem when we know that DC Studios has a lot of exciting things coming up. But Super girl it looks like it could be an early sign that Gunn’s big plans for the DCU are going awry before they hit the ground running.

Loosely based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic miniseries, new Super girl the film follows Superman’s cousin Kara (Milly Alcock) as she embarks on an interstellar bender that culminates in her dog being killed by a gang of sex-trafficking gangsters. Unlike Superman (David Corenswet), Supergirl has no problem killing her enemies – especially when they try to stop her from saving Krypto. But with a young widow (Eve Ridley) calling the shots, Kara tries to set a good example (read: no killing).

Although Super girl comes from director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira, everything about the film – from think about the animals in trouble to its needlepoint – makes it feel like some of Gunn’s earlier work. Supergirl’s drunkenness in strange bars and scenes wandering around in the space of dirty stars looks like it could have been ripped from Marvel’s. Guardians of the Galaxy Appearance. You can hear Nogueira showing off Gunn’s humor as the film introduces new faces like the no-nonsense bounty hunter Lobo (a disturbing Jason Momoa in sports-correct costume). Momoa’s presence is always reminiscent how the DCEU fellbut Lobo is not the one who pulls Super girl on the ground.

As refreshing as it was to see Superman highlighting the oft-repeated history of Clark Kent, Super girl he spends most of his time recounting the details of the destruction of Krypton. Kara’s flashbacks are designed to help us understand her grief, and to see why her morals are so different from her cousin’s. But instead of revealing Kara’s feelings in any way, the film keeps her on drugs while sending her on a slow-paced journey that is often lacking in terms of plot or visuals.

One of the Super girlThe most obvious story is how difficult it is to find natural ways to make his hero different from Superman. Apart from the brutality of the family and its unshakable appearance, it is another indestructible alien who from time to time needs to increase its strength by warming up with sunlight. The movie tries to give itself some substance by constantly placing Kara where she is left without her own abilities. But in the second sequence where Kara is beaten up by a group of boys, you realize that DC Studios hasn’t really closed down on ideas for the story.

It’s a little weird given the way Gunn said before that DC Studios would “never put in a half-baked script” because the project had already been announced. Half-ass is the perfect description of Super girl‘s overall vibe, and being the studio’s second major franchise doesn’t bode well for the future of the DCU. Super girl it should have shown that Gunn had a solid plan to build a new universe behind some of DC’s lowly characters. Although we have already seen how this can work in HBO’s A peacemaker series, it was unclear if the studio would pull it off for the big screen. The whole point of relaunching the classic WBD movies was to put DC Studios in a better position to compete with Marvel – which it is on the brink of its major overhaul. But Marvel has few reliable aces like and the X-Men and the new one Spider-Man movie in his hands, DC is starting from scratch.

Some of them Super girlProblems may not appear so easily if there was more time before they happened Superman‘s theater to begin with. The two movies coming close to each other emphasize the similarities between their characters, and it makes it seem like DC might be comfortable putting in recurring projects. This calls into question Gunn’s idea of ​​prioritizing a stories about Green Lanterns and a Clayface movie before releasing new versions of iconic heroes such as Batman and Wonder Woman. WBD is planning to implement following Matt Reeves’ The Batman which may not be part of the DCU, but Gotham of all of them can lead the audience to see a new Bane / Deathstroke movie the studio is said to be prioritizing it prior to Super girl‘s underperformance.

All of these B-tier projects and other realities give the fledgling DCU a sense of urgency that has plagued Sony’s universe. Spider-Man spinoffs since its inception. And when you believe A combination of WBD and Paramount Skydanceit seems possible that the DCU may not come together as Gunn originally intended. Although it is possible that next year The Man of Tomorrow It could take things in a stronger direction, which seems to be the case here with DC releasing another super movie that is very similar to what we’ve seen before. It wouldn’t be the first time WB has found itself on the ropes with comic-related issues, but it could be the studio’s last chance to fix it.