“Relatably human (ish) stakes and an emotionally resonant core are let down by rubbery combat and murky visuals, but Supergirl is powered by a stratospheric performance from one of the nu-DCU’s most exciting stars yet.”
Said me, for Starburst Magazine.
On June 26th 2026, Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl landed in cinemas. Suffice to say, the Internet was completely normal about it.
By which I mean, a thousand YouTube thumbnails were launched featuring (a) someone pulling the kind of exaggerated face which only exists in YouTube thumbnails, (b) a needlessly mean AI generated image from a 1970s TV show no-one using it has ever actually watched, (c) both.
That same month, ICE Superman Dean Cain reposted an image of Land of the Lost’s Cha-Ka, adding: “Dang it, I laughed.”
This was representative of the drubbing Supergirl has received online, the worst of it coming from an unholy intersection of Zack Snyder fans, ‘Christian Dads,’ bad faith actors, and good old fashioned misogynists.
“She has the look and aura of someone younger, with a touch of wild-child ’70s androgyny. She’s like Kristy McNichol crossed with the Feral Kid from The Road Warrior,” wrote Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman in his takedown of the film.
Unpleasantries have only been exacerbated by the film’s apparent critical and commercial failure. Sitting at a grim 54% ‘rotten’ on Rotten Tomatoes (for contrast, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is currently at 28%), it’s far from the triumph DC bosses would have hoped for.
This failure to launch has been roundly celebrated by those who were hoping for as much, as though it’s a confirmation of all the horrible things that they were saying.
To be clear, there are plenty of valid reasons not to like Supergirl. I mentioned a number of them in my review for Starburst Magazine. You don’t have to like Milly Alcock either, even if you’re deliberately misinterpreting what she said about ‘Christian Dads’ being pissed off about women ‘simply existing.’
What you can do, is not engage in Superdickery, as though being an asshole is somehow going to get James Gunn fired or resurrect the Snyder-verse (although, to be fair, it worked for the Snyder Cut).]
It’s certainly not going to prove Alcock wrong.
This isn’t the wishy-washy rambling of a writer begging Supergirl detractors to ‘just let people enjoy things,’ (as a certified Hater, hating things is one of my favourite activities).
And nor is it the blind bootlicking of a self-professed James Gunn fanboy. Yes, I liked Gunn’s Superman, and Slither is one of my favourite horror films. But I also have genuine affection for Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. And Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake is another of my favourites.
I even watched (and largely enjoyed) his Rebel Moon.
However you feel about Supergirl, the middling 55% Rotten Tomatoes score is indicative of the true story. It’s a fairly average superhero film that’s completely undeserving of the culture war being fought over it.
But then, they know that. In the end, Supergirl isn’t really about Supergirl at all.
It’s about ‘this weird ownership of women’s bodies’ which Alcock spoke of. It’s about using Supergirl’s failure as ammunition to bring back a universe which never really took flight in the first place. It’s utilising Bizarro logic to die on a hill that’s been built on straw men and bullshit.
Did Supergirl deserve better than all of this? At the end of the day, only you can decide how to feel. You can absolutely choose not to be a dick, though.
Supergirl is out in cinemas now. Watch it. Or don’t. Just don’t be weird about it.
Once Upon a Time In... Harleywood 