James Gunn 'Supergirl' Project Shows Hollywood Still Hasn't Learned Its Lesson

It wasn't that long ago that James Gunn taking over at DC Studios was a huge deal in the entertainment world. Gunn, who'd had tremendous success with the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, was going to use his style and sensibilities to revitalize the flailing DC cinematic universe. Trying desperately to compete with the success of Marvel Studios.

Then, reality quickly set in. The era of each superhero movie setting box office records quickly came to an end. COVID lockdowns shut down movie theaters, and accustomed audiences to waiting for new releases to hit streaming services, or simply avoiding new releases entirely. 

Still, Gunn's start at DC was seemingly set up for success. His first film was DC's biggest property and character: Superman. It released well after lockdowns had ended and normalcy had returned. "Superman" released in July, at the heart of the summer moviegoing season. It had two weeks as the biggest new release before "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" hit theaters. And…it likely didn't even turn a profit.

Gunn unnecessarily embroiled himself, and his movie, in controversy, making some bizarre comments about politics and the movie being political, just ahead of release date. With an estimated total cost of production and marketing at around $350-400 million, it needed to get to $700 million to have a chance at being a hit. It made $616 million. Not a massive flop, but nowhere near the hit Warner Bros., DC, and Gunn expected.

Fast-forward to late 2025, and the trailer for Gunn's next project as head of DC, "Supergirl" has hit the internet. And if you were expecting something different, boy are you going to be disappointed.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 02: James Gunn attends the Warner Bros. premiere of "The Suicide Squad" at Regency Village Theatre on August 02, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

‘Supergirl’ Looks Like Yet Another Hollywood Mistake

What the trailer for "Supergirl" shows is that Gunn, DC, Warner Bros., and the industry at large, has refused to learn their lesson. 

It's a near-copy of "Guardians of the Galaxy," complete with the same industrial planet space aesthetic. The CGI animal meant to elicit sympathy and audience buy-in. The classic rock song cue signifying that this character is "different" than the rest and more layered than those who like modern music. A lead character who has their own personal demons to fight, and thus responds with sarcasm. Who needs the help of other nearby characters to deal with a larger threat.

Look, it's a movie, and there's only so many types of movies out there, and so many archetypes for characters. But for this to come from the James Gunn Cinematic Universe and be so obviously and heavily influenced by his previous work, it's just…too on the nose. 

Then there's the other issue. Audiences have seen, and forcefully rejected, this type of female superhero. The world-weary woman who's dysfunctional in a way that male heroes sometimes are. And in case you didn't get the memo that this was a purposeful decision, Gunn is here to tell you it is.

She's messy, and imperfect. "Like male superheroes have been allowed to be for a while," he said at a New York media event for "Supergirl" this past weekend.

You can almost hear the groans throughout the internet. "The Marvels," starring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, was a disastrous flop. Quite literally the lowest grossing film in that studio's history. This character seems to be a bit less of a "girl boss" stereotype as Captain Marvel was, but only by a bit. "This does not look like it's going to end well…for you guys," she tells a room full of faceless bad guys. It's enough to make the eyerolling painful.

"Supergirl" was always a weird choice for a second DCU movie. It's not a character that's overwhelmingly popular or well-known. The track record of female-focused superhero movies is mixed, to say the least. And it could quite easily fall into one of a few predictable buckets. We've only seen one trailer, and already it's fallen into all of them. 

Hollywood should have learned by now that this formula doesn't work. They refuse to learn. Maybe "Supergirl" will be a surprise hit, that for the first time ever, women will rush to the theaters to see a female superhero because she parties and drinks too much, or something. But if not, boy oh boy, will Gunn's time as the high-priced head of DC be off to a rocky start.