The new DCU under James Gunn and Peter Safran is nothing short of a mess.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.The DCU Is Already a Huge MessJust two films in, with Supergirl (2026) now in theaters, the future already looks very uncertain for a franchise that promised to wipe the slate clean and start anew after the many critical and commercial failings of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe (the DCEU).The DCU launched last year with Superman (2025)—at least that’s what we were told. It actually started with HBO’s animated series Creature Commandos (2024), which most people still haven’t heard of. The average cinemagoer probably doesn’t even know that Peacemaker Season 2 (only Season 2, that is) and the upcoming Lanterns series also form part of this new continuity.On that note, it’s worth mentioning James Gunn’s openness about cherry-picking characters from the DCEU, which strongly suggests a lack of vision for this new-ish superhero franchise.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.But back to Superman.Written and directed by Gunn himself, the film stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. While it received mostly positive reviews, dig a little deeper and you’ll find that many fans of the character were unimpressed, with some describing the film as “cheesy” and that it feels more like Gunn’s other projects, in particular Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Suicide Squad (2021), than a traditional Superman movie.As for the whole “kindness is the new punk rock” angle, most agree that it’s pretty cringe.But is Supergirl any better? The short answer is definitely not.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Related: How Henry Cavill’s ‘Man of Steel’ Trilogy Will Continue Alongside James Gunn’s DCUSupergirl Is a Big Disaster for the DCUCraig Gillespie’s film, the second theatrical installment in the DCU, is just as forgettable, generic, and cliched as it looked in all the trailers. And the film hasn’t even managed to get off the ground, grossing only $63 million worldwide in its opening weekend against its $170–186 million budget, a huge drop compared to Superman‘s $220 million weekend-opening last year.That film scored a total of $618.7 million by the end of its theatrical run. Supergirl is very unlikely to reach those heights. With that said, Superman was hardly a fly-away success as its reported production budget was $225 million plus a worldwide marketing budget of $125 million, as reported by Variety after the film was released in theaters on July 11 last summer.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Critics haven’t been kind to Supergirl, either. Variety describes the film as “super-horrendous,” citing the action as “generic” and the script as one of the “worst” the reviewer can remember.So, what went wrong? Well, the film just looked so-so from the get-go, and star Milly Alcock’s seemingly self-sabotaging campaign during the film’s press tour probably hasn’t helped matters.Who was Supergirl even made for? In fact, who was Superman made for? It certainly doesn’t feel like a traditional Superman film. While its vibrant, poppy, and cartoonish aesthetic undoubtedly appealed to those younger audiences, one of the DCU’s upcoming films is a literal body horror.That’s right–Clayface (2026), centered on the Batman villain, is an R-rated body horror set in the same universe. Creature Commandos, Peacemaker, and Lanterns are also very adult shows.So, let’s rephrase the question: Who is the DCU even for?Of course, let’s not pretend that the former DCEU didn’t suffer from an identity crisis, too. Beyond Zack Snyder’s three brooding films–Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2021), collectively dubbed the Snyderverse–the franchise became tonally uneven and structurally all over the place.Of the rest of the DCEU films, only Wonder Woman (2017), Aquaman (2018), and Shazam! (2019) seemed truly worthwhile. The other films (see below) were either critical or commercial disasters, or both:Suicide Squad (2016)Justice League (2017)Birds of Prey (2020)Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)The Suicide Squad (2021)Black Adam (2022)Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)The Flash (2023)Blue Beetle (2023)Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)Still, most DC fans would rather forget anything outside the Snyderverse altogether. Which begs the question: would Snyder’s saga be welcomed back with open arms? The answer is most definitely yes. Those films have garnered a huge following over the years, while actors like Henry Cavill, who played the Man of Steel throughout the DCEU, remains a fan-favorite Superman.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Will the Snyderverse Return?With the DCU in its current state, it would hardly be surprising to see the much-loved Snyderverse make some sort of comeback. But even putting the DCU’s shortcomings aside, there’s every chance Zack Snyder’s Justice League saga could continue alongside it at some point.Snyder continues to share photos of the trilogy’s cast –Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fisher in their respective superhero gear – to his Instagram, which more often than not sparks speculation that the director is teasing some kind of follow-up.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Earlier this year, during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder described his “three-movie trilogy,” which has built a huge following over the years, more so since his version of Justice League was released onto streaming in 2021 following a massive fan-led campaign, as “a weed that just won’t die,” adding that “it grows on its own” and “has its own life.”And when asked whether his outline for the now-scrapped Justice League 2 and 3 could be turned into a comic or an animated feature one day, he didn’t rule that out, saying: “We absolutely talked about it quite a bit. We live in a world where all that is possible. Whatever form it would take, that would be amazing.”Most recently, he shared some dazzling artwork of his Justice League team with a simple caption: The League United. Is Snyder still celebrating his series of films, or hinting at an upcoming project? View this post on Instagram A post shared by zack snyder (@zacksnyder)The DCU Will Continue (For Now…)For now, there are still a couple of DCU films set for release: Clayface (2026), which hits theaters on October 23, 2026, and Man of Tomorrow (2027), which flies in on July 9, 2027.But will Supergirl‘s performance influence the DCU’s current slate? DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran told the New York Times (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he’s still confident about the plans he and Gunn laid out for the new DCU in 2023 despite the latest film’s box-office struggles.“While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” he told the outlet.It’s fair to say that Clayface is drumming up a fair bit of attention, even if it looks like it has no place in the otherwise-cartoonish DCU. As for Man of Tomorrow, if Superman and Supergirl are anything to go by, the David Corenswet-starring sequel, which has Gunn back in the director’s chair, isn’t exactly off to a promising start.Tell us your thoughts about the DCU, and whether you think the Snyderverse could return one day!The post James Gunn’s DCU Is Now Beyond Saving, as Zack Snyder Teases ‘Justice League’ Return appeared first on Inside the Magic.