# My Super Ex-Girlfriend
**My Super Ex-Girlfriend** is a 2006 American romantic comedy with a superhero premise, directed by [Ivan Reitman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivan-reitman) and written by Don Payne, in which a New York man discovers that the woman he is dating is secretly the city's celebrated superhero G-Girl, and that ending the relationship turns her powers against him[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend). It stars [Uma Thurman](https://www.edgepedia.org/uma-thurman) as Jenny Johnson and G-Girl, Luke Wilson as Matt Saunders, and [Anna Faris](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-faris) as Hannah Lewis[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 21, 2006, by 20th Century Fox; PG-13; about 95 minutes[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/) |
| Director / writer | Ivan Reitman; screenplay by Don Payne, a former Simpsons writer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND) • [4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-super-ex-girlfriend) |
| Lead cast | Uma Thurman (Jenny Johnson / G-Girl), Luke Wilson (Matt Saunders), Anna Faris (Hannah Lewis), Eddie Izzard (Professor Bedlam)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/) |
| Premise | After Matt dumps Jenny, the superheroine G-Girl uses her powers to make his life miserable[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend) |
| Critical scores | 40% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (129 reviews); Metascore 50 from 28 critic reviews[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_super_ex_girlfriend) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/) |
| Reception | A box office bomb and critical failure[6](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Matt Saunders, a New York architect, meets Jenny Johnson on the subway and begins dating her, unaware that her secret identity is G-Girl, a blond superhero and local celebrity whose powers are roughly comparable to Superman's[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-super-ex-girlfriend) • [7](https://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/movies/article/my-super-ex-girlfriend-takes-you-on-a-1209438.php). Jenny falls in love with Matt and discloses her true identity to him[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465624/plotsummary/). When Matt, finding her possessive, breaks up with her, she uses her powers to make his life a living hell[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend). After Jenny causes him to lose his job and nearly kills him, Matt becomes ensnared in a plot by the villain Professor Bedlam ([Eddie Izzard](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-izzard)) to strip her of her powers[9](https://entertainmenttoday.net/backissues/ET.2006.07.21.Compact.pdf).
The film's comic set pieces include street violence played for laughs, with cars tossed, spinning tornado effects, and buildings broken[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-super-ex-girlfriend).
## Production
The film was produced by [Regency Enterprises](https://www.edgepedia.org/regency-enterprises), with Gavin Polone and [Arnon Milchan](https://www.edgepedia.org/arnon-milchan) as producers and Don Burgess as cinematographer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND). It was developed by 20th Century Fox as an original property for summer release and was marketed as a "romantic comedy with a superhero twist," incorporating superhero conventions such as an origin story and a villain with a personal connection to the hero[10](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dmiami1249507295%26disposition%3Dinline).
Reitman, whose 1980s and 1990s comedies included the [Ghostbusters](https://www.edgepedia.org/ghostbusters) films, Twins, and Dave, had by 2006 slowed output; the film followed his 2001 flop [Evolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/evolution)[11](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wasted-premise-in-super-ex/).
## Reception
**Critical response.** The film received mixed-to-negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 40% Tomatometer from 129 reviews and a 31% audience score from more than 250,000 ratings, with a critics consensus calling it an "only sporadically amusing spoof on the superhero genre" whose heroine "embodies sexist clichés"[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_super_ex_girlfriend). Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 50 based on 28 critic reviews, with 8 positive, 16 mixed, and 4 negative[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/).
Reviewers were divided on the central joke. The New York Times described the pitch as "Fatal Attraction" meets "Wonder Woman," but funny[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/critic-reviews/). [USA Today](https://www.edgepedia.org/usa-today)'s critic scored it 88, praising it for showing "how much fun it might be to fly, or have super strength"[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/). Others found the execution wanting: Screen's review called it "all set-up and no pay-off" and argued the portrait of Jenny turned so creepy that the revenge comedy became a misogynist fantasy[13](https://www.screendaily.com/my-super-ex-girlfriend/4028040.article), and a contemporary review in Entertainment Today faulted the film's attitude toward women, ending in a street-smashing fight between the two lead female characters[9](https://entertainmenttoday.net/backissues/ET.2006.07.21.Compact.pdf). Common Sense Media, by contrast, called the film energetic and deliberately absurd, praising Eddie Izzard's Professor Bedlam as its most delightful element[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-super-ex-girlfriend).
**Commercial performance.** The film was a box office bomb and a critical failure[6](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744).
## Context in superhero cinema
When the film debuted in 2006, the only prior female-led, major-studio solo superhero films were 1984's [Supergirl](https://www.edgepedia.org/supergirl), 2004's Catwoman, and 2005's Elektra, all of which had been critical and commercial flops[6](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744). [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club)'s retrospective noted that Fox green-lit a comedy about how terrifying it would be if a woman had Superman's abilities at a time when big-screen female superheroes were already considered laughing stocks, and that the film's comedy did not punch up[6](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744).
A production detail became a point of retrospective criticism: each time Jenny transformed into G-Girl she wore a different high-fashion ensemble, which screenwriter Don Payne had not intended. According to the film's production notes, Reitman suggested many designer outfits, reasoning that "She's a woman and would want to mix it up a bit"[6](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744).
## Availability
In the United States the film can be streamed free with ads on YouTube and Plex, and rented or bought on Apple TV Store and Fandango At Home[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend). It is listed on Netflix but is not available to watch in all countries[14](https://www.netflix.com/title/70044691).
## References
1. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63952-MY-SUPER-EX-GIRLFRIEND)
2. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend)
3. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/)
4. [Parents' Guide to My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-super-ex-girlfriend)
5. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_super_ex_girlfriend)
6. [Before Wonder Woman soared into theaters, the hacky My Super Ex-Girlfriend plummeted to Earth, The A.V. Club (2020)](https://www.avclub.com/BEFORE-WONDER-WOMAN-SOARED-INTO-THEATERS-THE-HACKY-MY-1845100744)
7. ['My Super Ex-Girlfriend' takes you on a super-stupid ride, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2006)](https://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/movies/article/my-super-ex-girlfriend-takes-you-on-a-1209438.php)
8. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) - Plot, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465624/plotsummary/)
9. [Film Review, Entertainment Today (July 21, 2006)](https://entertainmenttoday.net/backissues/ET.2006.07.21.Compact.pdf)
10. ["Why So Serious" thesis, OhioLINK ETD](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dmiami1249507295%26disposition%3Dinline)
11. [Wasted Premise In 'Super Ex', CBS News (2006)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wasted-premise-in-super-ex/)
12. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-super-ex-girlfriend/critic-reviews/)
13. [My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Screen (2006)](https://www.screendaily.com/my-super-ex-girlfriend/4028040.article)
14. [Watch My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/70044691)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2005 to 2006*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license