Four years after James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of Warner Bros.’ DC Studios, the experiment finally has enough releases to grade. The early scorecard is uneven: Gunn’s own Superman was the safe hit, Supergirl was the costly miss, and the more interesting bets are still finding their place.
The number that should focus the industry is not Superman’s. It is Supergirl’s.
Phase One by the numbers
Superman checked in after the familiar origin story was already done. It grossed more than $600 million worldwide. That was a win for Gunn as a director, but not proof of a studio system—he wrote and directed it himself.
The first real system test arrived in 2026 with Supergirl. The film made only $100 million worldwide while costing nearly twice that, opened to mixed reviews, and reportedly had competing cuts screened months before release. Set against that, Clayface looks tactically smarter: a niche horror take on a minor Batman villain, produced for a manageable $44 million budget.
- Superman: over $600 million worldwide, directed by Gunn.
- Supergirl: about $100 million worldwide, budget nearly double that.
- Clayface: $44 million budget and a deliberate creative swing.
- Lanterns: the clearest sign the auteur TV model can work.
Television is the quieter strength
The DC TV overhaul started before the new regime officially took over. Peacemaker had premiered on HBO Max earlier, and went on to finish a well-received second season. Creature Commandos then used a tactic worth stealing: Gunn cast voice actors with the intent to bring them into live-action later, a practice he says will continue on future animated projects.
The strongest proof arrived this fall with Lanterns. The Green Lantern series was built as a grim police procedural—an auteur-friendly take that earned rave reviews while fitting into the wider story. It is, so far, the clearest example of what Gunn and Safran claim they want DC Studios to be.
The Batman-sized hole
The biggest variable is largely outside their control. Matt Reeves’ The Batman continues in a separate lane with Robert Pattinson. A sequel is in production, with Steven Soderbergh helping to finish principal photography, and HBO series like The Penguin and a recently announced Poison Ivy continue to expand that world.
That leaves the main DC Universe without its own Batman. The Brave and the Bold with Andy Muschietti remains in development, still without a cast or release date. Team-ups on the scale of Justice League or World’s Finest need that character, and a second Batman risks looking second-tier to audiences.
How media planners should read this
The useful framework is to separate a creator’s directorial record from a studio’s system record. Gunn’s Superman gross does not answer the real question. Supergirl does—at least for now, and not favorably. Script-first greenlighting is a defensible anti-MCU position, but a great script still has to survive the finished film.
The next 12 months will show whether Supergirl is an anomaly or a pattern. Watch the Superman sequel set for July 2027, and whether The Brave and the Bold finally gives the DCU a Batman. The number to track is not total gross, but gross against budget.
Source: IndieWire
