DC Fans Are Rushing Back to ‘Man of Steel’ After ‘Supergirl’ Crashes at the Box Office
The DC Universe was supposed to be entering a golden era of quality control, with James Gunn promising fans that every film would begin with a finished script and a clear vision before cameras ever rolled. That promise carried real weight after the goodwill built by last year’s ‘Superman’ reboot, which gave audiences a hopeful, colorful version of Kal El after years of grim franchise instability.
But ‘Supergirl’ has thrown a wrench into that momentum. Directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor El, the film opened to just $38 million domestically, delivering a cumulative global debut of $68 million against a reported budget of around $180 million. That is a rough landing for a tentpole this expensive, and it has left the new DCU searching for answers.
Now, according to a report highlighted by Collider, something unexpected is happening online. As fans grow tired of Supergirl feeling too generic to stand out, many are revisiting one of the most unconventional entries in superhero cinema, Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel.’ Data from FlixPatrol shows the 2013 film climbed back onto the domestic iTunes chart during the very week Supergirl hit theaters, a telling sign of where fan sentiment is drifting.
It is a strange twist of fate for a movie that was itself divisive when it first arrived. Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, grossed $670 million worldwide against a $225 million budget and served as the launching point for the old DCEU, a universe built in direct response to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s dominance. The film currently holds a 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Supergirl sits at a similar 54 percent, yet Supergirl has virtually no shot at even crossing the $100 million mark domestically.
Some of this renewed ‘Man of Steel’ chatter is also tied to its infamous ending, which has resurfaced in comparisons to how ‘Supergirl’ wraps up. Director Craig Gillespie has acknowledged the parallels between Kara’s arc and the moment Henry Cavill’s Superman snapped General Zod’s neck, telling Collider’s Steve Weintraub that the emotional beat was always the plan James Gunn wanted locked into the script. That kind of callback has only fueled fans drawing lines between the two films.
DC Studios, for its part, is not treating the numbers as a crisis. Co-CEO Peter Safran told The New York Times that while Supergirl didn’t meet box office expectations, it remains just one component of a broader, long-term strategy the studio still believes in. Still, the optics are hard to ignore when a twelve year old, critically mixed origin story is suddenly outperforming the studio’s own current release on digital charts.
Whether this is a passing moment of nostalgia or a real signal about audience fatigue with the newer DCU slate remains to be seen. For now, it says a lot that a movie once mocked for its brooding tone is having a bigger week than the franchise’s freshest theatrical release.
Do you think ‘Man of Steel’ deserves this fresh wave of appreciation, or is this just DC fans coping with ‘Supergirl’s’ rough start?
