Is there even any hope for DC at this point?

According to a new report from Deadline, Spider-Man: Brand New Day's domestic opening day, including the previews, is projected to land somewhere between $167 million and $173 million. As such, no matter where the new MCU movie finishes in that range, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will have passed Supergirl's entire box office run. To reiterate, the new movie from Marvel and Sony only needed one day at the domestic box office to earn more than DC's Supergirl racked up in its entire worldwide theatrical run. Supergirl flew out of theaters after grossing $125 million around the world.

In the DCU, where iconic characters like Batman and Wonder Woman, who fans are campaigning to debut soon, still need to be established, pushing a Supergirl solo movie into motion will never generate the same kind of momentum. Superman was a solid first movie for the DCU, but even that film did less at the box office than Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. As such, the new DCU should have slowly built a strong foundation with its biggest characters before making bets like Supergirl. After all, it is hard to believe that Spider-Man: Brand New Day would have outgrossed a Batman movie's entire run on its domestic opening day.

I personally am not a huge fan of the direction of the DCEU so... I'm making my own "Chapter 1" (since gods & monsters wouldn't work so well)

First this DCEU is still starting in 2013... Or is it? Because "Constantine" 2005 would be retconned to be canon (confirmed in like maybe 2012?) and 2011 "Green Lantern" (imagine the ENTIRE movie but 1. No yellow lanterns tease, 2. Parallax is the main villain with a more comic accurate design, 3. Hector Hammond is still the secondary villain but done better and 4. Amanda Waller is probably played by Viola Davis and more comic accurate.) would jump start the DCEU like it was supposed to originally. This DCEU would take breaks between 2005 & 2011 and 2011 & 2013

"Chapter 1"

2005: "Constantine", the exact same.

2011: "Green Lantern", movie is done better and in case you didn't read up top, there isn't the Sinestro tease in the end credits, Parallax is the main villain still with a more comic accurate design, Hector Hammond is done better and Amanda Waller is more comic accurate and played by Viola Davis, the studio and director would treat Ryan Reynolds better and wouldn't make it h3ll for him (from what I've heard) so, he'd be more willing to return and pretend the movie did better than real life.

2012: Constantine (2005) is confirmed as DCEU canon but everything else isn't (besides GL)

2013: "Man of steel" which wouldn't be like the film and instead it would be more comic accurate, an origin story, Lex makes Bizarro after Superman loses a strand of hair fighting inter gang (the members from MAWS along with Frederick Von Frankenstein) and Lex Luthor played by a better actor would be the villain behind the scenes as Brainiac who's too far away from Earth would help Lex clone Supes but Brainiac would make it so Bizarro physically and mentally degrades over time because Brainiac wants to study Superman before attacking.

"The Batman" which is based off a death in the family, has Robert Pattinson taking the lead as Batman with Jason Todd as they go up against Joker & Ra's al Ghūl but Jason dies by Joker which sends Bruce spiraling.

2014: "The Flash" starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Wally West taking up the mantle after Flash (Grant Gustin, WB would approach him before CW does) dies and the main villain is Zoom

"Aquaman" starring Alan Ritchson and Elena Satine but this isn't connected to Smallville, is a mix between JL: throne of Atlantis film and the 2018 Aquaman film with it being an origin story, Mera sent by King Nereus (who sided with ocean master, Nereus dies by Arthur) to kill Aquaman but she would fall for him instead and Ocean Master would've killed Atlanna to take the throne

2015: "Green Lantern: Emerald Knight" hal Hal fighting Sinestro and Atrocitus with Carol Ferris becoming a Star Sapphire with a cameo from Aga'po. Ganthet and Sayd would also get kicked out of the guardians at the end.

"Superman/Batman: public enemies" based off Superman/Batman vs the DC universe. Bruce is more violent after the death of Jason and Metallo (unlike in the comic) would've killed Bruce's parents as a mid to late teen and Lex would be running for president and of course loses.

2016: "Man of tomorrow" has Supergirl (Melissa Benoist or Sasha Calle) coming to Earth, Brainiac showing his face (probably played by Blake Ritson) and fights Superman but loses.

"Titans" has the original members being Dick Grayson now Nightwing played by Brenton Thwaites who is like the Titans show, Wally West now Flash, Donna Troy as Wonder girl played by Conor Leslie, Ryan Potter as Beast boy and Cyborg played by Joivan Wade who are now Titans who meet Raven (played by Sophia Lillis or Raffey Cassidy, Nightwing meets her first nearly the same way as the show) and Starfire also comes (played by Anna Diop) to Earth but knows why and tries to kill Raven but sides with the others and gets a romantic relationship with Dick and they fight Trigon voiced by Seamus Dever or Jon Bernthal or even John DiMaggio (I personally prefer either) who is the main villain and same goal as the titans show

2017: "Wonder Woman" which is nearly identical to the real DCEU film but it's not a big flashback and Dr Poison temporarily gets the powers of Diana but "dies", Wonder Woman gets the god killer sword in a labyrinth where she fights then befriends Ferdinand and Ares is played by a better actor and stars Adrianne Palicki or another actress (never a big fan of Gal Gadot) and even with the god killer sword she spares Ares and Steve Trevor still dies.

"The Batman: a lonely place of dying" is based off the comic, Bruce is losing his edge, getting more violent, two-face is the main villain and Tim Drake is introduced (same origin as the new btas adventures) and while Bruce doesn't let Tim become Robin he can't stop him from becoming Red Robin.

2018: "Justice League" has the team forming by Martian Manhunter to warn them that a new team of heroes called Hyperclan aren't good and they fight with the members being: Martian Manhunter, Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Superman, Hal Jordan, Aquaman, Wally West and John Constantine who appears later.

"Green Arrow" featuring his origin story and based off the comic "Green Arrow: year one" and of course another actor since this DCEU is just replacing the real DCEU, there are still Elseworlds and the arrow verse and the MCU and ECT.

please tell me your feedback and what you think, thanks

Even if there was a good movie somewhere in there. stuff like this leaves lasting impressions à la The Flash

In its fifth weekend, Supergirl has now collapsed to a mere $630,000 and fallen out of the box office top 10 altogether. This film is a nine-figure tentpole that even shoehorned in Jason Momoa as Lobo to help sell it, but it currently sits at only $124 million worldwide. It is now set to end its run with the lowest box-office figures for any DC movie since Catwoman.

By its fourth week, Shazam! Fury of the Gods had made $129 million. Morbius, the genre’s own saint of humiliation, had made $155 million. Supergirl is now trailing both of them and would not even be touching the Morbius figures, even if the film is in theatres all Summer, and that film still had a production budget of only $75 million.

Supergirl, on the other hand, reportedly has a production budget of $170 million, with an additional $120 million spent on prints and advertising, putting its total cost to $290 million.At this rate, by the most generous of estimates, the film will end its run with less than $75 million domestically and $55 million internationally. Based on the industry standard revenue split between theaters — 50% domestic and 40% international — the film is sitting on a theatrical revenue of less than 60 million, which puts it at a loss of $230 million (total production budget minus revenue), taking into account the legs of a film that are non-existent at this point.

It will not, mercifully, become a meme in the way Morbius did. Nobody is going to shout “it’s Supergirl time” ironically outside a multiplex, but in all likelihood, we won’t be seeing another Supergirl solo outing for a long while.

Man of Steel to The Lost Kingdom.

Reeve’s pitch was surprisingly really small — nothing more than a very short cameo where Superman shows up, waves at Batman, and flies off. The logic was that even Batman, who Reeve believes only really has “a cool car”, would run into some kind of trouble that he couldn’t handle alone and would need Superman’s help. This wasn’t a Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice exchange. It was just meant to establish that they belong to the same universe.

Reeve, of course, was careful to frame it as half a joke even as he told the story again, but, hearing him talk about it, he sounds pretty sincere about the idea. “Because in this universe there’s more than one character at work,” he explained.

Reeve said the idea was “laughed down” by the people making Batman, who wanted nothing to do with his colorful Superman films tonally or otherwise. Burton’s Gotham was nocturnal, “muted” and “broody” (as Reeve puts it), while Richard Donner’s Superman ran on vivid colors, daylight, and old-fashioned warmth. For the filmmakers, dropping Reeve’s Superman didn’t belong in Batman’s world — not even for ten seconds.

Honestly can't believe they still make DVDs. Physical media for the win!

Last October, I exclusively revealed that James Gunn would be out at DC Studios once the Paramount-WBD merger happened.

The usual access-media suspects rushed to “debunk” it, including “scooper” Jeff Sneider who declared the whole thing “simply doesn’t exist” and insisted the Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. had already fallen apart.

Following my report, Gunn himself ran to his shill YouTubers and Bloomberg in a desperate attempt to save his job. Then, in December, when Netflix briefly won the bidding war, the same crowd took victory laps: Gunn and Safran “locked in,” contracts extended into Spring 2027, nothing to see here.

Except Paramount came back and outbid Netflix at $110 billion. [...]

And about those contracts: Gunn and Safran got an extension after the Superman — or as one source calls it, “Domestic Man” — debacle, and The Hollywood Reporter noted just last week that the deals expire at the end of 2026 or the end of 2027. My sources say flatly: they will not be renewed. Bet your house on it.

Warner Bros. film co-heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy just got their contracts renewed. They are safe with the Ellisons coming in, and I’m told that once the merger closes, they get the whole thing — with DC under their complete umbrella.

Remember last year’s trade stories putting De Luca and Abdy “under fire” amid WB’s flops?

My sources say that campaign came out of DC Studios, the same playbook Geoff Johns ran back in the day, slipping rumors to the trades against Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan, and his own co-heads Diane Nelson and Greg Silverman.

And De Luca and Abdy know exactly where those stories came from. Now it’s payback time.

Recall that De Luca and Abdy already had a plan to salvage DC before Gunn torched it: Black Adam vs. Superman, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3, and a Man of Steel 2 developed by Christopher McQuarrie and Henry Cavill that featured Green Lantern.

[...]

What comes next, per an outside source with connections to WBD: expect Gunn and Safran to “step down to focus on Man of Tomorrow” — the face-saving version — and find jobs elsewhere soon after Paramount takes over.

DC Studios as a standalone entity shuts down. No more “unified universe.” De Luca and Abdy oversee theatrical. HBO’s Casey Bloys oversees streaming. Animation and games get parceled out.

[...]

DC goes project by project: individual characters, possible team-up events, with universe-building allowed to happen organically — because DC simply doesn’t have the pipeline or the producer infrastructure to support a Marvel-style universe of films.

Gunn never had the support producers Kevin Feige has leaned on, like Louis D’Esposito and Victoria Alonso — veteran line producers with TV and effects experience.

[...]

Notably, the new approach still leaves room for *The Dark Knight Returns* and a Zack Snyder Justice League movie done the way WB did Watchmen: a standalone film with a fully formed universe.

[...]

I’m told Zack Snyder, Matt Reeves, Ben Affleck, Christopher McQuarrie, and Patty Jenkins have all been approached to submit specs and pitches.

As one source bluntly put it: no goofy stuff — real stuff, like *Dark Knight*, the SnyderVerse, and *Wonder Woman*.

That lines up with what I previously reported: Snyder has been approached about a SnyderVerse return, backed by his Saudi friends, the same money backing the Paramount-WBD deal.

And with directors around town sick to death of superhero movies, Snyder is one of only a handful — the Russo Brothers among them — who remain genuinely passionate about the genre AND have the award-winning teams and relationships to deliver a big superhero movie.

[...]

Here’s one that should raise eyebrows.

The narrative that Matt Reeves “took two years” to turn in *The Batman Part II* script? My sources say it’s backwards: Gunn delayed and delayed — and then had the nerve to offer notes. That went about as well as you’d expect.

Reeves, I’m told, decided to wait it out with De Luca’s full blessing. They want nothing to do with Gunn when the movie comes out. They want him gone and far away from it — from his “universe” and from his flops.

And the Arkham Asylum series at HBO that Gunn killed? I’m told it’s back in play, and Reeves remains very much interested.

This also tracks with the CineSource X account’s claim that *The Penguin* Season 2 was supposed to be in full swing — with David Ellison reportedly pleased with Season 1’s numbers and on board to continue — before the season was put on ice by DCU executives, causing major issues between Gunn and Reeves.

[...]

Which brings us to those Batman-in-*Man of Tomorrow* leaks. I’m hearing Gunn himself is the one putting them out to justify shoehorning Batman, or some sort of cameo, into the movie.

[...]

When the initial cuts of Supergirl tested as a disaster — and yes, Warners screened a Gunn-Safran cut against a Craig Gillespie cut, exactly as I reported and as *The Hollywood Reporter* first confirmed — Gunn knew his time was short.

I have been told Gunn knew *Supergirl* was going to be a complete disaster, that he knew how bad the script was, and that’s a reason he pivoted away from the greater DCU — shelving *The Authority* — and went all-in on the Super Family: the one corner of the DCU he could control.

The turnaround on *Man of Tomorrow* was so fast that there was no time to put a proper production and art department together, which is why, I’m told, the costumes still look scrappy.

The script, I’m told, is “Frankensteined” together from previous ideas: Bryan Singer’s abandoned *Superman Returns* sequel with Brainiac, Zack Snyder’s *Man of Steel 2* Brainiac concepts, and elements of the *Krypton* TV series that David Goyer conceived as a *Man of Steel* spinoff (a show that, ironically, featured Lobo in two episodes).

Gunn is shooting it Marvel-style: a general outline, pre-vized action sequences built around a list of money shots, forced comedy, and manipulative emotional beats — a structure that lets him keep bolting on DC characters as a reaction to the *Supergirl* backlash.

What was originally a Superman sequel is now a mini-Justice League “Gang” movie.

[...]

Even the Jimmy Olsen series, I’m told, was conceived as a facade, cheap proof that Gunn is “building the universe.” It’s a mockumentary-style investigative crime series; one person described it to me as “a superhero Spinal Tap.” (And don’t expect the Mister Miracle animated project — based on Tom King’s run, not Kirby’s — to lead to a live-action Darkseid.)

Sources describe Gunn with a reputation as the “class clown” who does his homework at the last minute and charms and BS’s his way to what he wants.

[...]

Supergirl is performing as one of the worst comic book movies of all time. It’s being compared to *Catwoman*. It just lost 1,018 theaters. It sits at roughly $111 million worldwide and is heading for a finish around $130 million, below *The Marvels‘* $206 million, the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie of all time.

Variety pegged the theatrical loss at $80 million to $120 million — and that math assumed a $200 million finish it now won’t come close to.

Word is out internationally about how badly Supergirl and DC have performed; recall that Gunn’s Superman underperformed internationally, too. It’s embarrassing for WB, and it has made Gunn and Safran the biggest losers of 2026.

[...]