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It\u2019s not a great look when just the second-ever film in your burgeoning superhero universe arrives with a poor Rotten Tomatoes score.<\/a> That\u2019s just happened to Supergirl, which currently has a 57% from almost 150 critics.<\/p>\n Those Supergirl reviews put it well below the 83% of Superman, and it is entering a market where there are exactly three rotten-scored MCU movies out of three dozen or so, Captain America: Brave New World, Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, if we\u2019re comparing it to DC\u2019s direct rival. To be fair, the DCEU, the preceding web of films, had nearly half of its movies land rotten scores. Though the idea was that the DCU would be better than the past universe, which unceremoniously fizzled out.<\/p>\n Box office returns<\/a> are not projected to be much better, and Supergirl will be lucky if it makes half of what Superman did, perhaps around $300 million, perilously low in the genre. Now, some are turning toward James Gunn and, even after just two movies, questioning his ability to lead the DCU as its overall architect, whether that\u2019s fair or not.<\/p>\n Is it? Well, I certainly think we can say that James Gunn knows how to make quality superhero movies\/shows himself. His resume:<\/p>\n Guardians of the Galaxy (directed and co-written) \u2013 91% critic scoreGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (directed and co-written) \u2013 85% critic scoreGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (directed and co-written) \u2013 82% critic scoreGuardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (directed and co-written) \u2013 95% critic scoreThe Suicide Squad (directed and written) \u2013 90% critic scorePeacemaker (completely written and majority directed) \u2013 93% critic scoreCreature Commandos (created and completely written) \u2013 95% critics scoreSuperman (directed and written) \u2013 83% critic score<\/p>\n NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 22: (L-R) Craig Gillespie, Peter Safran, Milly Alcock and James Gunn attend the premiere of “Supergirl” on June 22, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Audience scores for most of these are high, if not higher. Gunn has the golden touch, but the keyword there is \u201ctouch.\u201d Supergirl is his first \u201csupervised\u201d movie that he neither directed (that was Craig Gillespie) or wrote (that was Ana Nogueira). And it\u2019s the lowest-scored of the above by a significant margin.<\/p>\n The question not is not whether Gunn\u2019s ability as a filmmaker is in doubt, but whether he\u2019ll be making the right calls on projects he doesn\u2019t directly have a hand in writing or directing. Quotes are resurfacing <\/a>in which Gunn says he will only move forward with a project if the script is great<\/a>. Many would say that is far from the case with Supergirl, and now there\u2019s an additional concern that Gunn has Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira writing both<\/a> Teen Titans and the all-important Wonder Woman to come.<\/p>\n Then there are further flashbacks to 2023, when Gunn praised the DCEU\u2019s The Flash to high heaven, even calling it \u201cone of the greatest movies ever made.<\/a>\u201d The Flash arrived with a 63% critic score, spawned a number of memes, and lost more money at the box office than almost any other superhero movie ever. Then, Gunn hired that movie\u2019s director, Andy Muschietti, to direct the DCU\u2019s Batman: The Brave and the Bold. So, uh, you might be able to see the concern.<\/p>\n It\u2019s too early. That\u2019s the conclusion I draw despite all this. We can\u2019t be two films into the DCU and write off the entire project because of one miss. There are more tests to come, many of them imminent, like the HBO Max Lanterns series and the upcoming horror project Clayface this fall. No one expects the R-rated, niche horror Clayface to be some sort of box office blockbuster, but the next film after that is Gunn\u2019s own Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, where that won\u2019t test his \u201coutsourcing abilities,\u201d which we may not see again in earnest until 2028, whatever that year brings.<\/p>\n The Supergirl reviews are not good. The box office is shaping up to be not good. I do understand the concern about Gunn\u2019s decisions and past opinions, which seem to contrast with the quality of his own work, but we need to see more before rendering an actual verdict. Though it\u2019s unclear how much time Warner Bros. may give him, especially if the Paramount takeover comes to pass, and they want better results. But we\u2019re going to see how this all plays out over the next few years, and before that, this weekend.<\/p>\n Follow me on Twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>,<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series<\/a> and The Earthborn Trilogy<\/a>.<\/p>\n