‘Supergirl’ Is Struggling at the Box Office Against ‘Morbius’ With Low Earnings

Box office comparisons can be a harsh indicator of a film’s struggles, and few reference points carry as much cultural weight as the infamous flop that became an internet punchline back in 2022.

When a new release starts being compared to that particular movie, it usually signals that the numbers have already revealed the story. This week, that exact comparison has emerged for one of DC Studios’ major 2026 releases.

‘Supergirl‘ debuted in late June, featuring Milly Alcock as Superman’s cousin Kara Zor El, with a reported production budget between $170 million and $186 million, plus an additional $120 million spent on marketing. The film opened well below expectations, earning $37.1 million domestically and around $62.6 million globally, and then saw a staggering 77 percent drop in its second weekend, falling out of the domestic box office top 5 after just two weeks in theaters.

The comparisons have become increasingly pointed. Tracking the third weekend results for two very different superhero films released four years apart, Jared Leto’s widely criticized ‘Morbius‘ earned $4.6 million in its third weekend back in 2022, while ‘Supergirl’ managed only $3.5 million during the same weekend this year. This gap places ‘Supergirl’ behind a film that has become synonymous with box office failure.

‘Morbius’ has carved out a unique niche in box office infamy since its April 2022 release, earning a 17 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and becoming the subject of relentless internet memes that ultimately led Sony to attempt an ill-fated theatrical re-release two months later. Despite its reputation, the film still managed a $39.1 million opening weekend and maintained enough audience interest to gross $4.7 million in its actual third weekend, a figure that has now become the unlikely benchmark that ‘Supergirl’ failed to surpass.

This comparison hits even harder considering how differently the two films were positioned prior to their releases. ‘Morbius’ was introduced as a spinoff for a villain with limited mainstream recognition and worked off a modest $75 million budget, while ‘Supergirl’ was intended to be a significant step for Warner Bros and DC Studios as the second major release in their newly rebooted cinematic universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran. A film designed to anchor a franchise falling behind one of the genre’s most notorious failures is precisely the kind of statistic that becomes an instant talking point online.

Analysts have projected that ‘Supergirl’ could incur losses between $80 million and $120 million once its theatrical run concludes, with Warner Bros already reducing its release to more than 1,000 theaters as the studio shifts focus toward a late July digital release to help recover costs. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has downplayed the financial disappointment as part of a broader long-term strategy, highlighting upcoming releases like October’s ‘Clayface’ and next summer’s Superman sequel as reasons for continued confidence in the franchise.

Whether ‘Supergirl’s’ underperformance ultimately proves to be a minor setback in DC Studios’ rebuilding efforts or a more serious indication of audience interest in lesser-known comic book characters remains uncertain. What is clear is that being outperformed by ‘Morbius’, of all films, in a direct weekend comparison is not the kind of headline any studio wants associated with its franchise cornerstone.

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