The last Supergirl movie came out when Ronald Reagan was president. Helen Slater wore the cape in 1984, the film quietly disappeared from the conversation, and DC spent the next forty-two years pretending it never happened. Now they are trying again, and the difference between then and now is Milly Alcock.
Alcock plays Kara Zor-El as someone who actually remembers Krypton. Not as backstory, not as an opening montage you forget by the second act, but as grief she carries in every single scene. That is the detail that separates this from every other superhero origin story we have seen in the last decade. Most of these characters lose their home planet the way you lose your keys. It is inconvenient, it motivates a few scenes, and then the punching starts. Alcock is doing something different. She is playing Kara as someone who is still there, still standing on a world that no longer exists.
If you watched her in House of the Dragon, you already know what she can do with a character who has to hold impossible grief while making difficult choices. She played young Rhaenyra Targaryen with a mix of defiance and vulnerability that made you forget you were watching a fantasy show. She was just a person navigating a world that was not built for her. That is exactly the energy Kara Zor-El needs.
This is the second film in James Gunn's new DC Universe, which means the pressure is significant. The first film set the tone. This one has to prove the tone can sustain a franchise. Gunn has talked publicly about building a DC universe that prioritizes character over spectacle, and casting Alcock is the clearest evidence that he means it. She is not a movie star yet. She is an actress. There is a difference, and it matters for a character like Kara who needs to feel real before she can feel powerful.
The premiere is June 22 in Brooklyn, with a wide release on June 26. By the time most people see it, the reviews will already be out and the conversation will already be shaped. But I would encourage you to go in knowing as little as possible. The trailer already showed too much, which is the standard complaint in 2026. Let Alcock surprise you.
Forty-two years between Supergirl movies. That is a long time to wait for someone to get it right. Based on everything I have seen so far, they might have finally done it.
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