Supergirl is battling more than just toxic fandom at the box office

This weekend saw the release of Supergirl, the second instalment in the rebooted DC cinematic universe following the release of last year’s Superman. 

It has struggled to make an impact on its opening weekend, coming in on the lower end of box office expectations in the US, earning $38million, with a worldwide opening of $68million, one of the lower openings for a major blockbuster this summer season so far.

With a crowded summer blockbuster slate now following, Supergirl will likely struggle to make its break-even point of $300-350million worldwide across the summer. 

That, coupled with a so-so Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 56%, and an audience score of 76%, means this re-introduction of Kara Zor-El – played by Milly Alcock -seems to be struggling to take flight.

For some corners on the internet, that box office fate seems pre-determined, as Supergirl and its star Alcock have been subject to the kind of toxic discourse that does always seem to accompany superhero movies featuring a female lead.

While that is a factor to consider when regarding what Supergirl – and unfortunately any female-led tentpole picture – has to contend with, the latest DC Comics movie is facing another battle to overcome in the face of a toxic discourse: superhero fatigue.

Toxic fandom

Let’s start with that toxic discourse factor. 

Much like Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel before her, certain corners of the fandom have felt it their right to comment and criticise the appearance of the superhero lead – one such troll even included former Superman actor Dean Cain – which Alcock has done well to call out. 

No stranger to intense fandom, having starred in Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, Alcock discussed with Vanity Fair her way of contending with such comments, saying ‘We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies. I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself.’

That triggered reactions online with largely male fans claiming she was alienating an entire demographic. ‘I didn’t even say ‘men’ — I said ‘people!’’ Alcock told Variety in response. ‘And they got so angry. I was like, ‘You’re proving my point. You’re proving my point!’. 

A lot of the conversation ahead of the film then became about Alcock having to defend herself and her image in the face of a male-dominated fandom that can hold rigid ideas and images in their mind when it comes to how their favourite characters are portrayed on screen. 

However, this sort of conversation has happened before. Fans bemoaned that Gal Gadot didn’t look strong enough to portray Wonder Woman following her casting. Brie Larson was the target of a bot-led campaign that picked apart her body language during interviews, with many YouTube videos titled along the lines of Brie Larson is Ruining Marvel or Why Everyone Hates Brie Larson. 

Much of this sort of backlash was linked to Larson rightfully calling out how difficult it is to be a woman in film amidst a disproportionate amount of representation in the industry – similar to Alcock’s comments being a very justified observation of the industry and culture she’s witnessed around her. 

Yet despite these backlash campaigns and review bombing on the likes of IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, movies like 2017’s Wonder Woman and 2019’s Captain Marvel were hits, with Larson’s Captain Marvel making over $1billion worldwide. 

The negative white noise of toxic fandom, while often loud, only represents a small corner of a prospective audience and has proven to have had little effect on the box office performance of such movies, particularly during a very popular time for the genre.

Supergirl underperforming this weekend will unfortunately give fuel to some of these nastier corners of online fandom – but there is much more to Supergirl’s struggles at the box office than toxic discourse, which has rarely ever actually been proven to directly affect box office performance (frankly, general audiences just don’t pay much attention to it). 

Super fatigue

What Supergirl’s performance actually demonstrates is the struggle that is facing the superhero genre at large; one of audience fatigue for a genre that has dominated screens for over 25 years. 

A superhero movie being a hit is much less a sure thing than it was even 10 years ago.

Something like next month’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day will likely be another billion-dollar hit. That has the benefit of being, well, a Spider-Man movie, the fourth outing for Tom Holland’s popular take on the iconic character, whose previous entry made nearly $2billion even when audiences were still hesitant about visiting theatres post-Covid.

Audiences seem much more hesitant to take risks on superhero properties that are less well known in recent years – or with properties where they’ve been burned before.

This is even before you consider the introduction of numerous TV spin-offs, which makes it harder than ever for casual movie-goers to keep up with exactly what is happening in each comic-book universe (a factor which likely hurt Captain Marvel’s sequel The Marvels in 2023, which relied on audiences having watched two TV shows to know who some of the main characters even were). 

You need only look at three of the big comic book movies of last year for further examples of this fatigue and audience trepidation:  Marvel’s Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four and Supergirl’s cousin, Superman. 

Thunderbolts – hoping for a breakout success similar to the equally niche comic-book series Guardians of the Galaxy – had a bizarre marketing campaign that changed the title after the film’s release, making it hard to establish the identity of the movie and making around half the amount the first Guardians movie did back in 2014.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the fourth attempt to bring the franchise to the screen but this time within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, performed better but likewise fell short of expectations. 

Then there is Superman, the first movie out of the gate for the rebooted DC Studios following the cancellation of a number of projects after the disappointing critical and fan reception to the likes of Justice League, Black Adam and The Flash.

It had the task of establishing a new movie universe after a confusing end to the original run of movies, which had only just finished a year and a half before with 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. 

Choosing Superman to do so – arguably the most recognisable superhero in the world – seemed a safe bet, and while it was warmly received and grossed over $600m worldwide, it was hardly a home run of a success, carrying with it a hefty price tag of $225m before you factor in marketing costs.

Supergirl, following this up, as a character who has largely been on TV to general audiences in the last 15 years, was never going to be a sure thing, giving Kara Zor-El an even more stacked deck to combat against. 

Where is its audience?

There’s also the question of whether it’s too much ‘Super’ all at once, coming quickly off the heels of Superman, before that film itself gets a sequel next year with Man of Tomorrow.

Supergirl’s marketing never seemed to take off or tap into its audience. Reactions from early screenings were lukewarm at best, further demonstrated by its middling reviews.

At the same time, the trailers seemed to suggest something akin to the irreverent tones of Guardians of the Galaxy without offering too much new to the table. 

You need only look at the demographic for this weekend’s audience, as reported by Deadline – 59% of the audience was male, and 65% was over the age of 25 – which shows that young women, surely the target audience of this particular entry, simply didn’t show up. 

It pains me to admit as well that the movie simply doesn’t stand out enough in terms of its quality.

What did you think of Supergirl? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now

Despite a strong turn from Alcock, it is a pretty dull and episodic adventure across the stars that recycles bits and pieces from comic-book movies of the last 20 years to diminishing effect, leaving Kara Zor-El stranded in a stacked summer season of blockbusters, and will likely be quickly forgotten about.

It’s hardly the statement DC Studios would have wanted to make with their second movie.

We already know that we will be seeing Alcock’s Supergirl again in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow, which will be a further test of how this new DC run can do on the big screen in a climate where superhero movies simply don’t fly like they used to.

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