‘Supergirl’ Stumbles After Controversial Press Tour

To the surprise of almost no one, “Supergirl” bombed over the weekend following months of bad press, thanks in part to comments made by the film’s lead star, Milly Alcock, and negative reviews ahead of the premiere.

The Warner Bros. and DC Studios adaptation centered on Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, earned $38 million domestically and $68 million globally during its opening weekend, well below expectations. Studio co-CEO Peter Safran acknowledged the disappointing numbers, but insisted it would not alter the studio’s plans. 

“While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” Safran told the New York Times.

Per Variety, Warner Bros. and DC spent $170 million on production and around $120 million on marketing the film. But Alcock, who played the titular star, seemed determined to compete with Rachel Zegler in terms of tanking her own film before it ever came out.

The 26-year-old spoke to Variety last month about backlash ahead of the film’s release, insisting that much of the criticism stems from her being a woman.

“I guess women know that this is just how it’s always been, unfortunately,” Alcock told the outlet, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “And it’s from a lot of people whose profiles have no photo, who are burner accounts. Or someone’s name and then ‘Dad of four, Christian,’ which is hilarious to me.”

“But I mean, whose opinion do you really care about? If you’re p***ing the right kind of people off, you’re doing OK,” she added.

The “Supergirl” star preemptively blamed potential criticism of the film on misogyny during a Vanity Fair interview published in March in a tactic described as “pre-release critical armor.”

“It definitely made me aware that simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on,” Alcock said when asked about the “inevitable backlash” she’d face.

“We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies. I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself,” Alcock added.

Alcock also described “Supergirl” as a more personal story centered on Kara Zor-El. “She’s not trying to save the world — she’s just trying to save her own,” Alcock told Vanity Fair. “This film is an excellent reminder that the world can be crumbling around you, but you can be the hero of your own story.”

Even if audiences were willing to look past that, there was another problem: the movie got terrible reviews, even from mainstream critics. It currently has a 55% critical rating and a 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Alcock throws around a medley of furrowed brows, sleepy glares and insolent grins – much like my own teen daughter – while hinting at a soulfulness that the movie directed by Craig Gillespie is barely equipped to tap,” a reviewer from The Globe and Mail wrote. 

“The action sequences are jerky and disjointed; Supergirl’s laser eyes constitute the only occasional, if inadequate, jolt of life,” another reviewer observed. 

“Despite an appealingly rough-edged title character played with scrappy aplomb by Milly Alcock, this second installment in what DC is positioning as an unfolding multicharacter franchise defaults to too many of the clichés of superhero cinema at its worst,” the Slate reviewer said.

“Supergirl” is currently playing at theaters nationwide.