The next movie to be released within James Gunn's DCU recently hit a timeline milestone that proved it is much further along than the next film that will be released within the MCU. However, even though one movie is so much further along in the filmmaking process, they are scheduled to be released around a month of each other. The theatrical side of the DCU got started in July 2025 with the release of Superman. In the same month, the MCU kicked off its Phase 6 with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Now, both brands are taking a historic break until the middle of 2026.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (as shared by ScreenTime via X) DC Studios reportedly held an official screening for Supergirl, where it was shown to a group of executives and some members of Gunn's DCU team, who are extremely trusted. Many have pointed out how notable it was for DC Studios to show this screening since the Supergirl film will not be released in theaters until June 26, 2025.
On the other hand, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is the next MCU film that will be released, is still in the midst of filming. For reference, it will be released only a month later than Supergirl, as it is scheduled to premiere on July 31, 2025.
Supergirl began filming on January 13, 2025, and completely wrapped up on May 10, 2025. Spider-Man began filming on August 3, 2025, and will likely continue through the rest of October and most of November. An official end date for production on that title hasn't been given, but it will likely wrap up sometime in November, or possibly even December, especially since filming had to pause for a bit due to an injury sustained by the film's lead, Tom Holland.
The movies' filming schedules already indicated how much further along Supergirl was than Spider-Man. The former wrapped in May, and, if Spider-Man doesn't wrap until November, that is a six-month gap.
Most likely, Supergirl still needs to go through some more post-production before it is entirely ready to be released. The screening given to executives was probably still a rough cut with some post-production and mixing still needed. However, it is extremely notable that even a rough cut of the movie has been put together, and that a cut far enough along to be screened is already in existence.
It is worth noting that DC Studios and Marvel Studios have very different production strategies. James Gunn has stated multiple times that a movie at DC will not shoot a single scene until the script has been finalized, and there is absolutely nothing that could stop filming from a creative standpoint. In other words, Gunn and DC Studios don't want parts of a movie to be filmed while the script is not finished, so that the final product is entirely coherent and major reshoots won't need to be done, and rewrites won't take place during production.
Marvel Studios, on the other hand, tends to go ahead and begin filming whenever possible, even if the script isn't completely finished. This sometimes results in movies shooting scenes as they are finished, and, sometimes, the movies have to go back during production to reshoot a scene that has been rewritten.
A lot of fans have criticized Marvel in recent years for how it has handled production. Most of the time, it seems like Marvel has its back against the wall and doesn't finish filming in enough time for post-production teams to properly perform their work by the time the film needs to be released.
Marvel Studios has stated that, despite the pause in production for Holland's injury, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will still be released on July 31, 2025. Supergirl seemingly will be completely finished in plenty of time for its June 25, 2025 release date. These two movies releasing at the same time highlight the differences Marvel and DC have in their production processes. However, while they may be vastly different, both studios will likely prove that their own strategies work for them.
Why Supergirl's Screening News is a Very Good Sign
The fact that DC Studios is already showing a screening of Supergirl to executives is an extremely good sign, and something that DC fans should be excited about. In short, it indicates that Gunn and his crew at DC Studios are wildly confident in the upcoming film.
Historically, when studios are confident that they have a hit on their hands, they will begin screening movies to private groups and then public groups, way before that movie is scheduled to be released. On the opposing side, if screenings happen rather close to a movie's release date, sometimes it is because a studio isn't as excited about its upcoming movie.
In other instances, the timing of screenings can happen because of the possibility of spoilers. If a movie is screened way before its release date, that opens the door for spoilers to be leaked to the public. However, since Supergirl was only shown to executives, spoilers likely were not a worry.
So, it seems as though Gunn and DC Studios are very confident that Supergirl will be a smash hit and another success for the DCU. Unfortunately for fans, the road to Supergirl is still more than six months long. However, since the movie is so far along in the filmmaking process, fans could start seeing some marketing and promotional material for Supergirl sooner than later.
