HBO Max Is Officially Undoing Supergirl's Disappointment

Published Oct 13, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release.

He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years.

DC Studios didn't find much success with Supergirl at first, but HBO Max is helping undo its disappointing reputation. The DC Universe's second movie hit theaters in June 2026, with expectations that Milly Alcock's Kara Zor-El would headline a profitable, well-received blockbuster after a brief cameo in Superman.

Despite the strong reception to Alcock's performance, critics and audiences largely rejected Supergirl. The movie underperformed commercially, finishing its box office run with just $126 million worldwide. This came after Supergirl's reviews leaned more negative, giving it a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. As a result of these performances, the superhero movie has gone down as a box office bomb and creative misfire.

The poor theatrical showing was never going to be the end of Supergirl's story, though. Movies have many pathways to find success in 2026, with increased usage of digital and streaming releases. These avenues allow movies like Supergirl that don't do as well as expected in theaters to find new life and a broader audience. In this case, Supergirl was on PVOD services by late July before debuting on HBO Max on September 10.

Supergirl's HBO Max release brought an initial wave of success that is almost always common with major blockbusters. But the question for DC Studios' film was whether interest would remain steady in the weeks and months ahead. After spending a full month on streaming, Supergirl has proven to be a smash hit with people at home.

Supergirl Has Been A Major Streaming Hit On HBO Max For An Entire Month

HBO Max subscribers have not gotten tired of Supergirl even after a month of availability on streaming. The movie remains a worldwide phenomenon, with FlixPatrol listing it as the #3 movie worldwide on HBO Max as of this writing. It is only behind new-arrival Evil Dead Burn and comedy classic Superbad​​​​​. This includes being in the top 10 overall in 12 countries, and in the top 10 movies charts in 31 countries, such as #7 placement in the United States.

While Warner Bros., HBO, or their new parent company Skydance have released streaming viewership figures for Supergirl, it is clear that subscribers have really taken to the movie. If that were not the case, it would not be a title that people around the world are still making an effort to watch a full month after it came to streaming.

Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

The initial popularity a movie receives on streaming can at least partially be attributed to fans who already saw a film in theaters watching it again. There are certainly members of the DC community who are still rewatching Supergirl on HBO Max, but most who wanted to see it again probably already have. The sustained attention is more likely the result of new people finally checking out DC's movie.

This means that Supergirl's fanbase is growing. There are people who are just now watching it for a variety of reasons who ultimately like the final product. That's important for a title like this that had a difficult time finding its audience upon its initial release.

Supergirl's HBO Max Success Helps Change The Movie's Reputation

It is impossible for Supergirl to ever ditch its box office bomb label. That will always be part of this movie's story. But the success that it has found on HBO Max means it won't have to be the way it is always seen, both by the public at large and within the halls of WB and DC.

There is now a chance that Supergirl becomes a bit of a cult hit years from now and is reclaimed by audiences as being better than its initial reception would indicate. This has happened for plenty of movies over the years, especially those tied to major blockbusters. A generation of younger viewers could grow up with Supergirl after seeing it on streaming and support it for years to come as they get older.

The studios also may now have the opportunity to look past Supergirl's box office performance. James Gunn and Peter Safran can know that there is a broader interest in the movie than its theatrical run indicated. Depending on its exact streaming viewership, there's even an opportunity for the executives and studios to look at Supergirl as an outright success.

Granted, the latter comes down to viewership data that is not public. Supergirl's placement in the top 10 charts is nice, but data from Nielsen indicates that the movie initially performed worse on HBO Max than films like Black Adam, The Flash, and Blue Beetle (per Netflix & Chiffres). Its staying power could have been enough to turn things around, but that is unverifiable as of now.

Supergirl's Popularity On Streaming Is A Good Sign For The DC Universe

via MovieStillsDB

With a good portion of HBO Max's worldwide subscribers checking out Supergirl over the last month, the DC Universe can breathe a slight sigh of relief. Alcock's hero is already slated to come back and is meant to be a key figure in the next several years of DCU stories. That is easier to do when a hero is beloved and from a successful movie, which is why some questions started to arise regarding Supergirl's DCU future.

Audiences who have taken to Supergirl on streaming will be overjoyed to know that Alcock is reprising her role in 2027's Man of Tomorrow. This was directly set up by Supergirl's ending, and with production already done, there was never a chance she'd be cut from the film. DC could've considered reducing her role in post-production if Supergirl's box office scared them enough, but the streaming redemption eliminates that concern.

Considering its poor performance in theaters, there was a chance people would not check out Supergirl on streaming either. That would have sounded major alarms for DC. The future of this new shared universe could have been significantly altered to ensure audiences didn't bail from the franchise Superman began with so much success.

Kara Zor-El's film might not have been able to match the overall success level of her cousin's, but the future is bright for her and the franchise thanks to Supergirl's newfound popularity. It is getting the attention and appreciation it always deserved.