Supergirl Featurette Wiped From YouTube After Fans Spot Director Using Alleged AI Concept Art for Lobo
A featurette from Warner Bros. showed what appeared to be AI-generated concept art for Lobo's design in Supergirl, something that sparked backlash among fans and seemingly resulted in the video being wiped from YouTube.
Jason Momoa returned to the DCU as Lobo, decked out in white bodypaint, black leather, and a sinister grin befitting the bounty hunter. A featurette diving into Momoa’s performance was uploaded to YouTube after the film’s release in summer 2026, showing Supergirl director Craig Gillespie speaking to the actor while swiping through concept art on a laptop — artwork that seemed to be AI generated.
While only a few images of Lobo’s early look were shown at a distance, it’s impossible to ignore their resemblance to AI-generated content in terms of lighting and their overall soft, blurred look. Fans immediately clocked the similarities and took to the comments section to protest Gillespie’s apparent use of AI for such a massive feature film.
Director Craig Gillespie seemingly used AI generated concept "art" for ‘SUPERGIRL.’ pic.twitter.com/aU2h4oXHwr— Nexus Point News (@NexusPointNews) August 13, 2026
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Director Craig Gillespie seemingly used AI generated concept "art" for ‘SUPERGIRL.’ pic.twitter.com/aU2h4oXHwr
The featurette was wiped from YouTube mere hours later. No official comment on the situation has yet been made by DC nor Warner Bros., leaving angry fans demanding answers. IGN has reached out to DC Studios for comment.
"Never hire Craig Gillespie again," one fan wrote on X.
"They got caught in 4k and panicked," another said of the video's removal.
"They noticed people where hating on the AI [sic] and took down the video," another suggested.
This is just the latest blow to hit Supergirl following its struggle at the box office in June. As of August 2026, it stands as one of the lowest-grossing DC Comics adaptations of all time, garnering $124 million globally on a $170 million budget. IGN’s Clint Gage scored it a 6 out of 10, saying it “borrows from the best, but Milly Alcock’s great take on Kara Zor-El gets lost in the spare parts from other movies used to assemble her story.”
Peter Safran's DC Studios and Gillespie also suffered from some creative clashes, reportedly testing competing cuts for Supergirl mere months before the film went to theaters. Sources close to the project told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio and Gillespie were "not creatively aligned,” and DC Studios’ version ended up winning out in the end.
Despite Supergirl’s lukewarm reception, Warner Bros. is still moving full speed ahead on James Gunn’s sequel to Superman, Man of Tomorrow, with WB chief David Zasla remarking in an interview with Deadline: “A handful of recent films have underperformed expectations. Media is, by nature, a business full of hits and misses.”
James Gunn's Superman, on the other hand, was far more warmly received, with IGN scoring the flick an 8 out of 10 for being a "wonderfully entertaining, heartfelt cinematic reset" for the DCU.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.