Supergirl faced behind-the-scenes issues due to creative differences, according to a report
Creative differences are cited as one of the problems behind DC’s latest film.
‘Supergirl’ hit the big screen a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately, the film didn’t do as well as expected, both with critics and at the box office. Despite a standout performance by Milly Alcock, the film has some issues, which may be due to internal creative problems behind the scenes.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, production on the latest film in the DC Extended Universe fell short of expectations due to creative differences between DC Studios and director Craig Gillespie. “‘They were not creatively aligned’ is the polite way of describing things,” one insider told the outlet. The report mentions that there were two versions of the film: Gillespie’s complete vision, as well as a studio cut that underwent test screenings. However, even though both versions were shown, the test scores for both films failed to exceed 60 to 70 out of 100.
What changed during ‘Supergirl’ tests?
According to other insiders, Warner Bros. knew the film wasn’t working as soon as filming wrapped in May 2025. It wasn’t until December—after the test screenings were held—that the studio decided to call on Jeremy Slater, one of the screenwriters who had worked with Gunn, to help with the post-production process. Although it is unknown exactly how he helped, it is believed that he worked on details of the script that ultimately refined the final fight scene.
Apparently, another point of friction among the creative team was the music. Both have demonstrated a knack for using music over the years—Gunn with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, while Gillespie did so with ‘Cruella’. And although ‘Supergirl’ doesn’t rely heavily on music throughout the film, the final fight scene ended up using a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” According to reports, the screenings originally used Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” as the memento needle drop—a decision reportedly made by Gunn.
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Finally, with two versions in existence—and “Gillespie’s version was 11 minutes longer and featured more of the villain, Krem”—the difference in ratings between the two versions was just 2 points.
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