Supergirl ATTACKS FANS Doubling Down After Box Office Bomb

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Supergirl marketing has been an absolute disaster as they start ping-ponging all over the place trying to counter their last mistake. You see their wonderful new popcorn bucket >> [music] >> that can't hold any popcorn. It all started with Milly Alcock when she said that it made me aware that simply existing as a woman in this space is something that people comment on. We've become very comfortable having this weird ownership over women's bodies.

[00:00:26]Only for that to morph into, just 3 days ago, the DC universe is weird, and terrifying because it's a character that the audience already owns. On the one hand, ownership is weird, and I don't know why you'd ever consider that about anything. On the other hand, no, absolutely the audience owns the character because I'm making a product which is their right to judge.

[00:00:45]>> know, it just seems like PR got involved to give her a phone call she should have had a lot earlier.

[00:00:49]>> It's one thing to get hit by an oncoming train, but you don't have to run directly at it. I love that piece of advice. I think about it all the time. I wish someone had said that to Milly Alcock.

[00:00:58]>> Cuz these kind of comments destroy your movies. They get other activists to start writing articles like this. Oh, you're just proving everyone right. They really do hate Supergirl despite being the entire audience for customers of Supergirl. There is literally no point in having a Supergirl character when you already have Superman. The only reason to have a girl version of him is if it brought something that only a girl can, such as figure.

[00:01:21]Something for the dads. That's why when articles like this come out and go, "Oh, you just don't understand Supergirl is sexist." I'm like, "Yes, I know. That's the best bit about it." Not only do you have Superman, a strong masculine hero who can go out and save the world, but you've also got some eye candy on the side. Don't expect that with this movie, though.

[00:01:38]>> Supergirl was raised on a chunk of a disintegrated planet. People were dying all around her. She was raised in Portland.

[00:01:45]>> She's not Superman, and she's definitely not Clark Kent.

[00:01:48]>> No, she's meant to be wearing skimpy outfits and for the male gaze.

[00:01:51]>> Supergirl's fueled by this pain, fueled by this hurt.

[00:01:54]>> Well, that sounds like a laugh-a-minute, love. I can't wait to be entertained by that.

[00:01:58]>> people are expecting a a sidekick film to Superman in the periphery of his world.

[00:02:02]>> Yes, I do expect the clearly inferior runoff sidekick to be the sidekick of the movie. The T&A character to be the T&A character. This is why you exist.

[00:02:11]>> But what they're actually going to get is a really kick-ass Supergirl.

[00:02:14]>> Most predictable thing in all time.

[00:02:16]Look, I know you're expecting skimpy outfits and for men, but instead what you get is a wonderful film about the patriarchy and feminism. [laughter] >> Or it is a complete force to be reckoned with. She's not afraid to punch everyone in the face.

[00:02:27]>> Nelly brings this rock and roll vibe to the character.

[00:02:30]>> I think I've got to be at a living hell.

[00:02:32]In fact, I've already lived through this hell. It was Taika Waititi that did it to me.

[00:02:35]>> What you least expect that you going to want to see is Thor going through a midlife crisis.

[00:02:40]>> Huh, okay, cool.

[00:02:41]>> They looked at Supergirl and thought, well, that is incredibly hot character that would definitely get the men through the door of the cinema. But what if we stripped her of that and gave her depression?

[00:02:49]>> Nelly is absolutely killing it and she's really inhabiting this character in the best way. I couldn't imagine anybody else in this role.

[00:02:55]>> I've got to be honest, I have literally no idea what that guy just said.

[00:02:58][laughter] >> You're all right.

[00:03:02]>> It feels like that guy from Clarkson's Farm.

[00:03:04]>> I got to go back up that green lane when I was sowing, man.

[00:03:06]>> And Bond is not going to be not into that.

[00:03:09]>> What should I do to my girlfriend?

[00:03:11]>> Funny, that's what I've been calling you.

[00:03:12]>> Touché.

[00:03:13]>> It's [laughter] cuz he's a dick someone emasculated him in a film.

[00:03:17]>> It's a really empowering story.

[00:03:19]>> Well, because if there's one thing we've learned about women in movies recently, it's that empowering them really brings out the storytelling quality of the piece. Empowerment, that is the secret unknown key to Hollywood success. If only we do it more this time, maybe it'll work.

[00:03:34]>> [music] >> One of that resilience.

[00:03:36]>> Resilience? She's an alcoholic. That's like saying you've got strong willpower on Ozempic. Look, I can defeat anything except my arch-nemesis, pies.

[00:03:45]>> You can be your own hero.

[00:03:47]>> supposed to be your own hero. [laughter] I'm not even I'm not even sure what that means to be your own hero. Heroism is sacrificial. Hollywood really don't know what that word means, do they? Heroism by definition is something that you do for others, generally at the cost of yourself. She's like, "No, I'm selfish."

[00:04:03]Well, among other things, like uh messy. I think young girls should walk away from the film knowing that it's okay to be a bit bad and messy, says Milly Alcock. That means it was said by James Gunn and the main actress. That means it was a pass-down talking point.

[00:04:17]No, the way we're going to get men into this cinema she's going to be an absolute dog.

[00:04:21]>> I speak as someone who has their own hair issues sometimes. I have to do my own hair. Milly Alcock does not.

[00:04:27]>> real shame that marketing teams nowadays have absolutely no men inside them because with a I should rephrase [laughter] that. I'm sure they've had many inside them. No, on the team cuz then they might be able to market to one. Instead, we got people like Declan Finn so freaking out the defense of the movie that misogynists are going to crap on it because a female is possibly the biggest signal that everyone is going to hate this movie. We now actually have more signals that everyone is going to hate this movie cuz it turns out barely anyone's going to see it in the first place. This is why the marketing for the film is so important. When you do a marketing campaign, you actually can't start with one message like, "I hate the fans." and then go, "No, actually they do own me and I am just for them."

[00:05:04]Because the second message doesn't really get out. They already made their first impression by the first impression. And this wasn't just a one-off comment by the actress. Not only did she double down, but all of the other marketing affirmed it. Coming out as off, did you know that Supergirl is actually another film like Barbie? Seems to be a dedicated intentional decision.

[00:05:20]So, like when you get the corporate media who are designed to specifically shill these movies, they should have been getting down on their knees in front of the male audience and making it lovely. Instead, they got told to shut the F up. You're just proving a point about the fan backlash. Yes, when you get accused of something, actually if you defend yourself, that's just more proof of your guilt. These people genuinely think that's an intelligent remark. One gripe made by some fans is that whenever a project isn't successful as a female lead in the lead, those creatively responsible suggest that the fans are just too sexist to appreciate their efforts. Yes, but Alcott never even suggested that Supergirl would get backlash, only that she expects to be personally objectified, which she is.

[00:05:57]Great. In which case, she should have taken the adult approach and pandered to it. She actually should have been on set going, "Of course Supergirl's not going to wearing shorts. Do you understand?

[00:06:05]That's not the point of the character.

[00:06:07]You take them out, you'll do great in Japan." That's her role as an actress, to look good and be objectified. We didn't get that from her though.

[00:06:13]Instead, she was just like, "No, no."

[00:06:15]Well, not every film is for everyone. I thought at first this was their halfway point. Although, she was just talking about Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott, so maybe that's just two men she respects personally. Doesn't really seem to respect the rest when she doubled down on it going, "I didn't even say men. I said people."

[00:06:30]>> I couldn't believe this. If I were her publicist, I'd be like, "Stop talking, for the love of God."

[00:06:35]>> Who else are you talking about? Did you think that we're all supposed to assume that you have a massive problem with women objectifying you? I just can't stand it. They're always on about my chest. I don't know whether you think this is a good idea. I don't need to prove this in a court of law. I can actually just understand how linguistics work and be like, "Hmm, well, I know who this comment is referring to. That's enough." They get so angry. And I was like, "You're proving my point. You're proving my point. You do have a weird ownership over my body." Well, I forgot Milly Alcock, which day is it today?

[00:07:02]Which position are we standing on because I thought the audience did already own you and I thought that was perfectly allowed. I'd say stay in your lane, but I'd really like you to pick one first. And the backlash is from a lot of people whose profiles have no photo. They're burner accounts.

[00:07:15]Well, I mean, I suppose I am guilty of that. But what are you even trying to insinuate here? That they're just cowards, right? They're just really scared people. All the men of the internet are just desperately afraid of the backlash they're going to get from criticizing Supergirl. Going to be like, "No, everyone's going to dive on me and I'm going to get destroyed from the entire world for simply saying that I think that Supergirl actually should be hot for the men which are going to see her." I'm sorry, love, but this isn't 2016. The dogs can leave town now.

[00:07:43]>> Gal Gadot is an excellent example. Her Wonder Woman look, Maybelline, perfect. Brush your hair and put a little bit of makeup on.

[00:07:50]>> Even Lizzo's losing weight, we won that argument a long time ago. Then she doubles down on it even more or someone's name and then dad of four, Christian, which is hilarious to me.

[00:07:59]Why? I don't know whether this is an international thing, but it was definitely a British thing that we would have a TV show like Doctor Who and you'd have the doctor and then you'd have an attractive companion for the dads. It's what it was known as. It was a tried and true formula in TV and entertainment cuz yes, this was family entertainment. It was meant for the mom and the kids, but you had to put something in for the dads and the dads were the one that got the hot women into Why do you think Billie Piper was in Doctor Who? She did Secret Diaries of a call girl.

[00:08:24]>> God, I'm a chav.

[00:08:27]Nice rear bumper.

[00:08:29]>> It wasn't any because people respected her intellectual acumen.

[00:08:32]>> [laughter] >> Well, not unless her brain was split into two and a bit lower down.

[00:08:36]>> Curves, baby. It's like living inside a bouncy castle.

[00:08:40]>> Well, what I mean is, whose opinion do I really care about? If you're pissing off the right kind of people, you're doing okay. Now, I love this cuz it implies there is a right kind of person to piss off and a right kind of person to have in the audience. It means they do understand the importance of having a target market, a target demographic for your movie. This means that when this movie flops and it will, it's not because they don't understand how to market a movie to an audience, it's that they officially and intentionally despise the audience of Supergirl. They think they can get a new audience. They think they can get a load of man-hating people into the audience to counteract what she's doing. This seems to be a deliberate and intentional tactic to piss off the right kind of people so that a load of other people, a different audience, see them going, "No, I hate those as well. I'm going to see your movie." A bit like happened with Harry Potter when people started kicking off about J.K. Rowling and it prompted a load of other people to see that and go, "Well, I don't like you, so I'm buying the game." Now, the problem is in this case, there is no other audience that hates people so much they're going to go and watch Supergirl. The audience of Supergirl is very well known and it's the one she's targeting.

[00:09:37]>> And I I say this as a comic book reader myself, a female comic book reader. Our numbers are small. We do very little to move the needle. If guys aren't interested, it's not going to work.

[00:09:46]>> I'd say it wouldn't make a particularly bright but tendency towards mid anyway.

[00:09:50]And also, I do wonder how much of this is from like an individual perspective of just hating men and Christian dads, and how much of it was a genuine PR decision from the company to do it. Cuz a lot of the early marketing is very different than what we get now. Well, Alura had worn the Supergirl costume in Superman. That wouldn't be the dress code while she's getting sloppy in another galaxy. That sounds really hot, doesn't it?

[00:10:10]>> It's a really empowering story.

[00:10:11]>> Yeah, she's going to drink a lot, look like a mess, and have depression in pain. I understand that's probably the average night out in Slough, but when you're on the big screen, we need something more. Thus, she wears a Blondie t-shirt, which is what she wears all the time in the film. There is absolutely no makeup. She's making absolutely no effort with her appearance. That's not her priority, and she's not in a good mood. It's like the living embodiment of Ben Affleck opening a car door for J-Lo.

[00:10:39]And you have to understand what was said there. This isn't just, well, I'm not for the male gaze. This is, I'm absolutely doing the opposite. I'm deliberately making myself look awful.

[00:10:48]I'm going to be in a Blondie t-shirt.

[00:10:50]I'm not going to be in the outfit. I'm not even making any effort. There's no makeup at all. I'm just going to be a dog for the entire movie. Gone are the days of hot super spies, which would beat up men with their manicure perfectly intact at the other end. Not a hair out of place. Those were the good old days because it mattered who your target audience is. If that's men, that's exactly what you do. Marvel used to know who they made movies for. But DC DC is different. If your audience for the Supergirl DC movie is women, well, you actually wouldn't want a really hot attractive woman in charge cuz you would make them feel insecure. In fact, what works best for that audience is just a mid person who doesn't really put much effort in, so they're not actually intimidating to the audience and they can project themselves onto them.

[00:11:28]>> And I agree that it just becomes a girl power movie rather than a Supergirl movie.

[00:11:32]>> Oh, yes, I'm also miserable and depressed. I could save the world. The only problem is that they don't want to save the world. Sacrificial heroism isn't something that keeps them up at night. They don't long for the days that they could just charge into battle in a full suit of plate mail holding a sword.

[00:11:46]They don't look at the Titanic and go, you know, actually if I was there, I would have wanted to stay on the ship.

[00:11:51]This is why at the end of the trailer, this wasn't it's about heroism. It was >> You can be your own hero.

[00:11:56]>> Because rather than a man having an external focus, she has an internal one.

[00:12:00]This is why the target audience matters.

[00:12:01]It changes the entire movie. But when I asked Alcock at what point in the movie Kara puts on the Supergirl suit, she I don't know if I can tell you. I'm DC, I'm scared. But I don't wear it as much as people think I will. It's a journey.

[00:12:13]And so I think we can tell when people go, well, she wears a t-shirt for the entire film and I'm not going to wear it much, it's only a journey. She puts it on at the end. Now, this doesn't actually make sense unless it's a prequel because we already saw her wear it in Superman.

[00:12:26]>> The hell, [screaming] dude. Why did you move the door? Thanks for watching and damn.

[00:12:30]>> So, if we saw her wear it, then we have to watch her go through a movie where she has to relearn that she actually wants to wear it again. Well, that's got to be one of the most annoying tropes in all of super I just don't want to be a hero anymore. Well, piss off then. If you don't want to be a hero, let's get somebody who does, please. You know, somebody that I find not contemptible.

[00:12:44]At least through Noir when they do it in their story, it's like, yes, he starts off a bit miserable, but even as he's miserable, he's still going around saving people. He's just kind of in denial. And yet despite knowing that she spends all the time in a blondie outfit, she doesn't put on the suit until the end. You wouldn't know that from the marketing. You wouldn't know that from the trailers. You wouldn't know that from the repeated things they put out about the movie. You wouldn't know that from the latest poster they've put out today. Look, I know nothing about the comics and so all I see here is super Batman. I don't know why there's a giant S in the sky. I'm actually genuinely confused. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the more honest version of this poster where she's just wearing a blondie t-shirt and looks like a dog.

[00:13:20]I'm sorry, maybe this is a bit much, but I'm I'm not a dad. I don't know where the line is. They've even just today put out more shots of her in a costume, which let's be honest, is probably the last shot of the movie. And so, not only do you have someone who's making no effort with their clothes, no effort with their makeup, uh they're messy like male superheroes have been. Cuz as we all know, women famously men. It's always weird to me when they go, "Well, this one does it, so this one does it." It's like, they're not the same though, are they? It's like going, "You know, I've always wanted a green banana, just like apples have always allowed to be." Okay, then bite into that banana and see what happens to you. They're completely identical, no difference between them. You couldn't possibly think we can just do the same thing for both characters without any consideration about how it affects anything, I'm sure. And I agree that it just becomes a girl power movie rather than a Supergirl movie. And then we get the director, "It's a very complicated flawed character trying to find herself." And I, for whatever reason, tend to relate to that. Well, I'm sorry, Craig, but I don't care about you. You mean literally nothing to me. This is a superhero. She's meant to be better than you. We don't have to be limited by your mommy issues. I don't want to see a superhero that has to be in therapy.

[00:14:24]Well, this is a very complex character.

[00:14:26]And it's very rare to have a complex character, in particular for a female superhero, and not for 1 second did he think for once in his tiny little brain, maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe if for all of time, as we go back into the depths of history over thousands of years, if something has never been done before, maybe there's a reason why.

[00:14:45]Maybe actually doesn't apply to the target audience. Maybe it doesn't relate to people on a base level.

[00:14:50]Maybe it's just a load of nonsense.

[00:14:52]Maybe Supergirl just isn't you, and you need to book up your ideas and get over yourself. Maybe you being a very complicated flawed character is a problem you need to sort out on your own time. And this isn't something that you can simply hand wave away, right? So, oh, all the backlash is just from ha- everyone having a microphone. It's just minutia, has been for a while. Shouldn't be taking it seriously. How much backlash should you have before you take it seriously? Because it does be seem to be affecting the box office. The tracking is the worst case scenario.

[00:15:18]Supergirl is currently tracking for a 47 million to 65 million opening weekend with the full domestic run projected to land at 107 to 181. So, if you just double the highest estimate for international, you end up with $362 million. Even current estimates for the movie without marketing is 170 million to make it. Even without marketing, that isn't profitable. Now, I don't know.

[00:15:40]Maybe there'll be a load of people in pink dresses going to the cinema at the last minute to watch it just like they did in Barbie. Or maybe the best strategy to get women through the ones of Supergirl movie would be to make it for men who then bring their wives and girlfriends. No, you don't understand, love. There's a chick in this one. What do you mean that's not enough for you?

[00:15:55]Hollywood thinks it is. Now, I do find it funny that if it opens up to just a 47 on the low end of their tracking, uh that would put it in line with the Marvels. The worst performing Marvel movie of all time. Which also collapsed very fast, finishing only with 206 million worldwide. And how much of this is a consequence of the thinking that went on at DC at the time? With James Gunn going, "Ah, it actually doesn't matter about the box office of Superman.

[00:16:19]No, it's fine." And everyone saying, "No, that's your high point. That's your watermark." If Superman only gets 600 million, everything else is going to come in underneath it. And it is. How many more of these does James Gunn have left in him before someone goes, "No, no more. You've had your lefty series.

[00:16:31]You've had your female superhero movie from 2016. No more." I know Superman was your high mark, but put him in the marketing for it. That's not going to win this round. I don't care how many mobile phones he shoves down himself to make a bulge. But if you really wanted to use this as a marketing piece, she should have been in a costume and it should have been a lot skimpier. That's the way to get guys through the door. If they don't have a personality, do you expect them to care about her depression?

[00:16:52]>> What do you call people you go out with but you don't try to sleep with?

[00:16:56]>> Men.

[00:16:57]>> And the media is already coping with this, trying to set the different tone.

[00:17:00]Oh, well, maybe if we move the goal post before it happens, we can spin this as a success. Don't you understand? Supergirl will finally redeem DC's third lowest grossing box office ever because that would have been the 1984 Supergirl. But then in the same article, they go, "It's still too early to know whether Supergirl will be a hit." Well, in which case, love, I wouldn't be counting your chickens, especially as even the India Herald is getting in on the action as it says that this movie is flying straight into a box office war zone. It's going to have to fight Toy Story 5 and Minions and Monsters. And if I may, Supergirl, that wouldn't be a problem because the target market for Supergirl wouldn't be the same one that's watching Toy Story or Minions. But with James Gunn's choice of audience, the one that really likes her to be messy, out of her costume and not care about her opinion, yeah, that one's going to care about Toy Story and Minions. And I think they know it. I think they are genuinely worried and I think you see that in the marketing itself. We did go from, "Ah, you're just weird men with an ownership of women's bodies." to, "Oh, no, actually the character does own the audience." We went from, "She's not going to be wearing the outfit. She's going to be wearing a Blondie t-shirt and look ugly." to, "Look at all the marketing of her in her outfit. Look, she's wearing her outfit, guys." I think we're another couple of DC flops away before the main actress comes down and goes, "No, we need to bring back the patriarchy.

[00:18:13]That's what we need to do." Cuz you want to know what won't save this movie? The biggest heartwarming experience has been seeing little girls in superhero outfits and stuff like that. It's such a treat to give back to a younger audience. It swells your heart, not your wallet.

[00:18:24]Because those people, they're definitely going to see Toy Story and Minions and their mom. But the dad, he's probably not interested in those movies. It would have been absolutely great if he could have gone, "You go over there. I'm going over to this movie." For the dads. Those probably Christian dads seem to be the only one increasing the birth rates at the moment in America. The same ones that for some reason you just can't stand. Maybe because they tell you the truth. Something much lacking being told to Hollywood at the moment. That's why they're so out of touch on their soapbox talking down to the audience, just stunned that the audience dare have the gall to respond to them. And I think the only way Hollywood is ever going to get back to success is if it does face harsh truths. Truths which they're probably going to find insulting. They're probably going to find offensive. But it's just because their core ideas of what they need to do to make a movie are wrong now. I think the box office proves it. And I think it's time that Hollywood learned that they do need to listen to other people because all the voices in Hollywood are all saying the same thing.

[00:19:14]And they need to start wondering if they've gone down the wrong path and need to go back and go down a different one. And you could genuinely changing nothing about the Supergirl movie have made it make tens of millions more dollars just by putting her in the outfit, putting her some makeup on, and having her be nice, hopeful, cheery, and for the male gaze. Cuz why else would you make the movie? But those are just my thoughts, what are yours? Let me know down in the comments below. Like the video if you like the video. Subscribe.

[00:19:37]More videos like this in future and I will see you in the next one. Now, goodbye.