Supergirl was an unmitigated disaster for DC Studios. While the movie has its fair share of fans, it was a critical failure—52% on Rotten Tomatoes—and one of the biggest superhero movie box office flops ever.
Earlier this month, Supergirl ended its time in theaters with a dismal $125.8 million, making it the lowest-grossing DC movie since 2004's Catwoman. Now, the movie is being criticised on social media after an officially released featurette revealed that AI was used while establishing what Jason Momoa would look like as Lobo.
The video, which was pulled from YouTube by Warner Bros. Discovery mere moments ago as we write this, shows Supergirl director Craig Gillespie discussing various Lobo designs with Momoa. All of them have been created with generative AI and were used to make key creative decisions, if this video is any indication.
Lobo has been appearing in comic books since 1983, when he was created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen. He's appeared hundreds, if not thousands, of times since then, but DC Studios, or Gillespie, at least, decided that AI was a better way to bring The Main Man to life than comic book artwork or concept artists.
The use of AI may explain why Supergirl looks so drab, as one of the biggest complaints from fans was the lack of colour, despite the movie being inspired by the visually stunning Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book.
Using AI to design Lobo may have been purely down to Gillespie or a wider problem in DC Studios that this featurette has exposed. It's a little baffling that Warner Bros. Discovery included this in official material for Supergirl, and it will be interesting to see what, if anything, James Gunn and Peter Safran have to say about this.
Supergirl is set to have a lead role in Man of Tomorrow, and there have already been some strong hints that another project is lined up for the Woman of Tomorrow after that (Gunn has alluded to her potentially co-starring in the Wonder Woman reboot). Milly Alcock received widespread acclaim for her performance as Kara Zor-El, so future DCU projects could help redeem the character in the eyes of filmgoers.
"Bad writing, gratuitous cameos, and uninspired visuals take us back to the bad old days of the DCEU in Supergirl, a showcase for the super-talented Milly Alcock, but Kryptonite to anyone who likes good superhero movies," we wrote in one of our reviews.
Supergirl is now available on Digital and arrives on 4K Blu-ray on September 8.