Craig Gillespie’s ‘Supergirl’ Cut Reportedly Lost a Secret DC Studios Showdown
‘Supergirl’ arrived in theaters as one of the most anticipated entries in the rebooted DC Universe, carrying the weight of following last year’s ‘Superman’ as the studio’s next big swing. Milly Alcock stepped into the cape as Kara Zor-El, with David Corenswet, Jason Momoa, and Matthias Schoenaerts rounding out a cast built around the Woman of Tomorrow comic run. The film released in cinemas on June 26 and marked Craig Gillespie’s first time directing a DCU feature not helmed by James Gunn himself.
Behind that high profile release, though, the road to the final cut was reportedly far messier than fans realized. By as early as the fall of 2025, months after filming wrapped that May, both the studio and Gillespie were already aware something about the movie was not working. A December test screening only landed as “just okay,” which pushed DC Studios to take a more hands on role in shaping the post production process.
That decision eventually led to something rarely discussed so openly, a full on bakeoff between two competing versions of the same movie. In March, DC Studios tested its own cut of ‘Supergirl’ directly against a separate version assembled by Gillespie himself. According to insiders, Gillespie’s cut ran roughly 11 minutes longer and gave noticeably more screen time to the villain Krem, played by Schoenaerts.
The results of that test were not the clean win either side wanted. Scores for both cuts actually dropped compared to earlier screenings, with the studio’s version edging out Gillespie’s by only two points. Gillespie’s cut reportedly scored better on pacing, music, and its handling of the villain, yet DC Studios still chose its own version for the theatrical release.
Sources close to the production described real friction between Gillespie and Gunn over the film’s direction throughout post production. One insider bluntly summed it up, saying being “not creatively aligned” was the polite way of putting it, while others pushed back and framed the tension as fairly normal give and take on a big studio production. Jeremy Slater was brought in to help write additional scenes, the climactic battle was reworked, and the film ultimately cycled through multiple composers before the music was finalized.
Even the smallest creative choices became flashpoints during this stretch. Fans have already mocked the finished film’s use of a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” a needle drop reportedly chosen by Gunn, while an earlier February screening had instead featured a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Other reported differences included an alternate opening built around the destruction of Krypton, along with additional scenes fleshing out Superman and Supergirl’s relationship in the finished cut.
The broader context makes the situation feel even more consequential. As of this reporting, Gunn, Gillespie, DC Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery have not publicly commented on the account of the competing cuts. ‘Supergirl’ has grossed 79 million dollars worldwide so far, a number that has fueled ongoing debate about what went wrong behind the scenes.
Alcock is still set to return as Kara in Gunn’s ‘Man of Tomorrow’, so this creative tug of war is unlikely to be the last word on her run in the role. Knowing that an entirely different, Krem heavy version of ‘Supergirl’ once existed, do you think Gillespie’s longer cut would have landed better with audiences than the one that made it to theaters?
