This July, Superman arrives in theaters, and its success—or potential lack thereof—will dictate the DCU's future. Whatever happens, Peacemaker season 2, Lanterns, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow are on the way. However, the future beyond that is uncertain.
According to a new report from The Wrap, Superman has a $225 million budget. The trade spoke to one talent agent who believes the movie will need to gross as much as $700 million worldwide if it hopes to be considered a success.
"While release dates are important, I don’t think the challenge is 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' or any other film," they shared. "The challenge is almost entirely a question of if Superman resonates with today’s audience. Did they successfully update an Eisenhower-era character so the 2025 Gen Z audience can identify with him?"
"The simple brand recognition of Superman will probably take them to or close to $500 million worldwide, but anything above that will be because the audience identifies with the title character," the insider added.
Another source believes $500 million would be enough for Superman to turn a small profit. Warner Bros. Discovery expects more, though, especially as David Zaslav is banking on DC, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings to help turn around the studio's recent financial struggles.
If Superman underperforms, it sounds like big changes could be made to DC Studios' plans. 2026 has already taken shape with the projects mentioned above, but 2027 is less certain following the apparent cancellation of Sgt. Rock due to supposed issues with the UK weather.
"'Supergirl' is a much safer bet than, say, 'Sgt. Rock,'" an unnamed source posits, "which despite a good package, is a property with zero awareness in the greater landscape. There are better superheroes ripe for adaptation in the DC library."
A DC insider, meanwhile, adds, "Outside of anything Batman-related, DC will most likely wait to react to how 'Superman' performs before deciding on which superhero from their library to tackle next. Greenlighting 'Supergirl' may seem risky, but it extends the new universe they are trying to establish and shows a commitment to the larger brand."
With The Batman Part II seemingly stuck in limbo and development on The Brave and the Bold moving at a glacial pace, the DCU relying on the Dark Knight to turn things around could be easier said than done.
Still, there are already rumblings that James Gunn is planning a World's Finest movie, pairing Superman up with Batman in what would be a safe bet and potential guaranteed hit for DC Studios (even if it feels oddly similar to the way Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice followed Man of Steel in the DCEU).
It's hard to imagine WBD ditching Gunn and Peter Safran at the first sign of trouble, and they'd likely be allowed to right the ship with a 2027 slate that brings some bigger-name characters to theaters.
For now, though, outside of Superman and a few others, Gunn remains focused on producing movies and TV shows highlighting C-Listers like Amanda Waller, Booster Gold, Clayface, and Swamp Thing. He needs to expand the franchise beyond familiar characters, so taking some risks is necessary, given how much the brand was tarnished by the DCEU.
Those just need to be balanced with some hits, and the hope is that Superman will be exactly that come July 11.