All seemed hopeful for fans when James Gunn's Superman was released to positive reviews and massive profit numbers for Warner Bros. This optimism for the DCU was sadly short-lived when Supergirl was released in theaters a year later to a slew of negative reviews from both critics and fans. Worse, it quickly became DC's sixth major box office flop in three years, putting the future of the DCU and James Gunn's position as co-CEO of DC Studios into question.
In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy was directly asked about the poor performance of Supergirl at the box office and whether this added any "extra pressure" for Mundy and the show.
When it came to the lackluster reception of Supergirl, Mundy said, "there's pressure on everything that comes out all the time," and that while he believes "we did our absolute best on [Lanterns]," he also thinks the higher-ups at Warner Bros. or DC are "more incentivized to hope [Lanterns] does well:"
"It's a better question for the folks at DC, honestly. I feel like there's pressure on everything that comes out all the time. We did our absolute best on this show and it was the moment in time when we made it. I want people to watch it and like it. And my desire doesn't change whether or not Supergirl was a huge hit. I'd still want them to see that this group of people came together and did this thing. But on the business side of it, I'm sure if I was sitting in a boardroom at Warner Bros or DC or whatever, people are more incentivized to hope it does well."
Despite the added pressure from Supergirl flopping and Lanterns becoming the victim of racially motivated review-bombing by disingenuous users online (not unlike certain Marvel shows on Disney+), Mundy's belief in his team and Lanterns paid off.
Not only has Lanterns become critically acclaimed, but the HBO Max series has also quickly become the biggest debut ever for a DC Studios show, with 9.3 million viewers in its first three days on the streaming service and its global audience growing to 10 million worldwide by Episode 3 (via Variety). The series has continued to go from strength to strength with its more recent episodes, with Variety also confirming that its global audience has ballooned to 19 million viewers per episode by Episode 7. At the very least, if Lanterns manages to stick the landing with the season finale, Warner Bros. will have a success on its hands.
One that will hopefully wash away the box office flop of Supergirl, and that the moderately budgeted body-horror, Clayface, doesn't snuff out the success that Lanterns has reignited.
Will DC Studios Be Able to Stay the Course?
Even before the success of Lanterns and after the failure of Supergirl, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav affirmed (via The Wrap) that the company would not change its long-term strategy as it heads into 2027 and beyond. An encouraging sentiment, even if it was only made to reassure investors and make sure Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. continues without a hitch.
However, if rumors are to be believed, even Paramount itself "plans to keep" James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEOs of DC Studios. As long as they maintain their success after Lanterns, it's only a matter of time until Supergirl flopping will be nothing more than a blip on the radar.
Clayface has a much higher chance of success, not only because it has a reported budget of only 40 million. It also helps that it's being marketed as a horror movie, a genre that hasn't been hotter with the likes of Obsession and Backrooms becoming massive hits. Even if it performed as poorly as Supergirl did at the box office, which barely inched by 125 million, it'd still turn a healthy profit.
Not to mention the added incentive of Clayface being the first real look at Gotham City in the DCU, potentially providing fans with more hints at Batman's thus far unseen activities as the Dark Knight.
If Clayface becomes even a moderate success and Man of Tomorrow follows up with a hit at the box office, then it'd certainly give not only Warner Bros. executives more confidence in DC Studios, but also the future of the DCU.
