Milly Alcock, the actor set to star as Supergirl in the DC Universe’s upcoming film, has sparked a major backlash after comments she made about critics and Christian fathers, drawing sharp criticism from former Superman actor Dean Cain and raising concerns about the movie’s box office prospects. The controversy began in late March 2026, when Alcock sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss her experience with online scrutiny. Speaking about her time on House of the Dragon, where she played young Rhaenyra Targaryen, she said, “Just existing as a woman in a fandom space gets you comments,” and described what she called a “weird ownership of women’s bodies” among fans. At the time, the remarks drew relatively little attention, but they became a lens for interpreting everything she said afterward.
The situation escalated on May 20, 2026, when Variety published a cover interview with Alcock ahead of Supergirl’s release. In that interview, she suggested that “If you’re upsetting the right kind of people, you’re doing something right. ” She then specifically pointed to critics with bios like “Dad of four, Christian” and described them as “hilarious. ” The comment quickly went viral, with many interpreting it as a direct attack on Christian fathers.
Alcock later attempted to clarify her earlier Vanity Fair remarks, insisting she never said “men” and only ever said “people. ” By that point, however, the damage was done, and the story had moved from a niche online dispute to a mainstream headline. Dean Cain entered the fray on June 3, 2026, appearing as a guest on the Benny Show. Host Benny Johnson set the tone by claiming Alcock had attacked Christians and that the film was “set to flop.
” Cain, who played Superman on the 1990s television series Lois & Clark, said he had no idea who Alcock was before the conversation and had no desire to learn her name now that he had heard about the comment. “As a Christian dad, sorry, I don’t understand that at all. It blows my mind,” Cain said. Cain went on to criticize the film’s trailer, calling it unappealing and comparing Alcock unfavorably to Melissa Benoist, who played Supergirl on television.
He predicted the movie would “tank monumentally,” describing her approach as “suicidal empathy” and saying she was “so woke” she would alienate audiences. He also blamed DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, accusing them of running the franchise into the ground and noting they had already done the same to Star Wars. Cain drew a direct comparison to Disney’s live-action Snow White, which opened to about $42 million domestically and reportedly lost the studio roughly $170 million. “This reminds me of Snow White,” he said, referring to star Rachel Zegler.
“Why do you want to franchise by being a jerk and saying some awful stuff and alienating a huge portion of your potential audience? ”
The dispute took a personal turn on June 7, when Cain reposted a piece of Supergirl artwork and joked, “If Supergirl’s skin is bulletproof, how does she have ear piercings? ” Another user then replied with a side-by-side comparing Alcock to Chaka, the ape-like character from the 1970s show Land of the Lost, and Cain replied that he laughed. Fans quickly accused him of punching down at a woman half his age.
There was notable irony in the exchange: Cain is half Japanese and his birth name is Tanaka, and he has previously spoken about receiving racist nicknames during his own time playing Superman. He later clarified that he never called Alcock ugly, but by then the narrative had shifted from a studio PR problem to a toxic online war. Box office tracking reflects the fallout. Supergirl is currently projected to open between $50 million and $65 million domestically.
That is a massive drop from last year’s Superman, which opened at $125 million and grossed over $600 million worldwide. Industry observers note that Supergirl faces steep competition, including Toy Story 5, the live-action Moana, and a wave of Minions content, and that out of the last five DC movies, only Superman turned a theatrical profit. James Gunn largely avoided addressing the name-calling directly, but he did respond to Cain’s ear piercing joke on Threads. He explained that Kara loses her powers under a red sun, the same reason she got drunk in the Superman film, and that she was raised on a piece of Krypton where she had no powers as a child.
Meanwhile, the studio has stood firmly behind Alcock. Peter Safran personally called her after the first wave of backlash to tell her she was “handling it beautifully. ” Some coverage now suggests Cain’s attacks may be backfiring, generating sympathy for the young actor and free publicity for the film. This is not the first clash between Cain and Gunn.
In July 2025, Cain called Gunn’s framing of Superman’s immigrant story “woke” and predicted it would hurt the box office. That prediction proved wrong, as Superman became the only profitable DC movie on the recent slate. The Supergirl dispute, then, marks round two of a broader conflict over what Superman and DC are meant to represent.
