James Gunn's Superman was the make-or-break moment for DC's cinematic reboot.
But its follow-up, Supergirl, may prove just as revealing, offering a first real indication of the kind of universe Gunn intends to build.
Will every DCU chapter be chained to world-saving spectacle? Or is there room for stranger, smaller stories?
With Supergirl, the answer appears to be yes.
A Different Kind of Hero
Gunn's Superman is an optimistic Kal-El who subscribes to Kryptonian decency. His cousin Kara Zor-El couldn't be more different.
While Supes arrived as a baby on Earth and sees his powers as a gift, Kara spent her early years on Argo, watching everyone around her being slowly poisoned by kryptonite radiation.
Perhaps that's why she spends most of her time traveling to red sun planets to get drunk.
When orphaned Ruthye Marye Knoll begs for help to avenge her family's deaths, Kara just keeps drinking.
It is only when her dog Krypto is poisoned and her ship stolen that she sets out after the villain Krem.
A Vast, Lawless Universe
Where previous DC films saw aliens as occasional threats to Earth, Supergirl imagines a functioning intergalactic community.
The film has a space-western feel, with a cosmic bus stop and lawless frontier.
On Bilquis, Krem and his brigands kidnap young women and murder anyone in their way.
There are shades of Mad Max: Fury Road and Unforgiven, as the film asks whether Kara can keep pretending the suffering around her is none of her business.
Obtaining the antidote for Krypto and reclaiming her ship remain priorities, but Supergirl starts to realize that looking the other way is choosing a side.
A Bold Change from the Comic
In the original comic, Kara persuades Ruthye that killing Krem will not mend her soul, and imprisons him in the phantom zone.
In the film, Supergirl executes him.
This shift from the miniseries' moral position – that revenge offers no lasting peace – to a more ambiguous tone suggests Kara's journey from nihilistic party girl to cosmic saint was too neat in print.
It felt like fair frontier justice, even if Superman might not approve.
Different Powers Under Different Suns
Kara loses her powers under a red sun, regains them under yellow, and experiences kryptonite poisoning under green.
This breaks up her journey but raises issues for the DCU's future: what stops red sun aliens from traveling to Earth and taking over?
Lower Stakes, New Direction
By the end, Kara has only taken down one despicable alien and helped a grieving girl step back from the brink.
This is not Crisis on Infinite Earths, but part of a trend toward lower-stakes drama.
Supergirl feels like the DC equivalent of The Mandalorian and Grogu, which faced criticism for not destroying planets or revealing secret lineages.
The film never inflates its story into a cosmic emergency.
Whether audiences are ready for smaller, stranger superhero stories that rely on character and tone rather than apocalyptic spectacle remains to be seen; the mixed reception suggests not.
But if comic book movies are to survive, there will be a need for quirky frontier tales of grief and redemption among the multiversal pile-ups.
