Who Are the Real Superfans?

 

Supergirl: Def Rec or Def Don’t?

Who Are the Real Superfans?

Supergirl: Def Rec or Def Don’t?

Should you go see Supergirl (2026)? I’m not asking the “real” audience - I’m posing my question to the normies, the well-adjusted, the healthy, and everyday common folk who don’t obsess over comic book lore. To all regular people out there, are you planning to go to your theater of choice to watch the latest live action adventure of the Girl of Steel? If you are, that’s great, but in case you didn’t know, all you average joes and casuals out there, you aren’t the “true” fans. That’s not your fault and not your problem - it’s the studio’s problem.

I don’t have to ask if diehard comic book readers will fly to the box office and see Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) party her way across the silver screen. The marketing doesn’t bother trying to appeal to us dorks because we’ll consume this new feature film whether or not we think it looks good. The genuine nerds will review, rate, rank, and rampage through countless comment sections with our strong opinions about the summer blockbuster. Or maybe it’ll bomb and be a “flopbuster.” We are going to dissect it one way or another.

Sure, Def Rec is, at its core, a recommendation blog. Well, it’s essentially Rotten Tomatoes meets The Onion. There will be fruits and vegetables involved somehow. Anyway, the main objective is that no matter how unserious the subject is, I’ll tell you which show or movie I definitely recommend.

For this Craig Gillespie-directed film, I don’t have to advise my nerdy brethren on anything. This is a superhero movie, and us “Um, Actually”-aficionados will be seated regardless. And we will probably not even like Supergirl, but me and my fellow comic book geeks will have purchased our tickets anyway.

It’s unclear if those among us who don’t dedicate huge potions of their lives to sci-fi trivia (and Internet debates about the extent of superpowers) will go see this new movie. This may be just another weekend outing for a family who has bigger concerns than inspecting Lobo’s (Jason Momoa) costume or makeup for source material accuracy. Heck, for many fans, this could merely be a way to kill time before the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). That’s a spectacular spectacle that everyone will see no matter what. Supergirl, however, is left with a universal appeal problem. For starters, it is actively not trying to target everyone.

This most recent telling of the tale of Superman’s Kryptonian cousin is unapologetically and inescapably a modern movie. The biggest issue with this is that there is no such thing as a “modern” audience. At the end of the day, the people who watch any and all of these superhero flicks are me and the legion of comic book freaks.

I know that earlier I said that this blog isn’t really that serious and is more tongue-in-cheek than anything, but I’d still like to offer a legitimate recommendation for Supergirl. The truth is, I can’t. I’ll see the movie as will an army of YouTubers and podcasters. Whether or not normal citizens also decide to watch it now instead of waiting for streaming, I can’t say. I can state with certainty, though, that the mythical modern crowd won’t be in attendance.

The modern audience concept is not new - it’s a tired ideal that has been overused for years now, so much that it’s not even “modern” anymore. Still, filmmakers continue to use ideologies such as gender, sexuality, cultural norms, identities, and the overall Message™️ about how you should feel about all of these topics. It doesn’t matter how the studios market Supergirl - or any comic book movie for that matter - the target demo of young, hip, forward-thinking, and progressive fans who lean to whatever is politically trending or convenient at this moment is fictional. The guys and gals who do show up and pay for the privilege of being lectured at are the ones who actually love the canon. It will be us every time despite who movie creators think should exist. That’s not to say those who routinely read comics can’t or don’t share any of these “modern” sensibilities. It’s no secret, however, that the vast majority of super-moviegoers are dudes like me - fans who just want good stories. We want films and TV series about strong and noble characters triumphing over evil in their signature way. It’s fairly simple and doesn’t require a clunky, lazy, and obvious lesson dumped on top of a moral that is already there.

The consistent and steadfast fans won’t get rewarded. Our commitment won’t be catered to. I suppose we aren’t really owed anything. Heck, us blogging dweebs who continuously pay to watch these things in some form are part of the problem. It’s a cyclical nightmare of intellectual property perpetually getting further ruined. We give the beast money, so the beast thinks it should produce more of the same.

The Everyman may see the new Superman-related film. The real Super Fans will yet again be who turns out and watch Kara and Krypto the Superdog in the most recent DCU project. And we’ll see Spider-Man. And we’ll see Clayface (2026), and we’ll see Avengers: Doomsday (2026). I don’t need to recommend any of those movies to the real fans. We’ll buy our tickets and/or pay for monthly streaming service subscriptions to watch all of this content. And we will continue to endure being ignored or possibly shunned and dismissed. Or we’ll be given fake courtesies and maybe receive a few insincere niceties. My question now is, how long do we keep showing up only to be disappointed by creators who don’t care?

I definitely do not recommend we do it for much longer. Um, actually, I think we should stop altogether.

Def Rec Podcast coming soon!