The DC Universe was riding high last summer when Superman became the highest-grossing superhero movie of the year, getting the new franchise off on the right foot. Unfortunately, that positive momentum didn’t last. This weekend saw the release of Supergirl, and instead of the DCU going 2/2 at the box office, the film became yet another major studio tentpole to underwhelm this season (following the footsteps of The Mandalorian and Grogu and Masters of the Universe). While Supergirl was never going to be a match for Toy Story 5, at one point there was hope that it could earn as much as $50+ million domestically in its debut. It came well below that figure, and comparisons to other movies are a bit startling.
According to Deadline, Supergirl earned around $38 million domestically in its opening weekend, a number below the $40 million that was reported a day ago. This is below the debuts for Marvel bombs like The Marvels ($46.1 million) and Morbius ($39 million). What’s even more incredible is that Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which doesn’t premiere for another month, has already outgrossed Supergirl. Last week, it was reported that Brand New Day has already earned over $40 million domestically from pre-sales.