Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or is it a former actor taking mean-spirited jabs? Ex-Superman actor Dean Cain is being criticised for his comments about Supergirl lead star Milly Alcock.
The former House of the Dragon star plays the young superpowered cousin to David Coronswet’s Man of Steel in her own standalone film, one year after briefly being introduced in James Gunn’s 2025 hit Superman.
But Cain, best known for his portrayal of the character in the 1990s TV classic Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, doesn’t seem to be convinced by the new project, resharing a photo of the 26-year-old, asking: "Wait… if Supergirl's skin is bulletproof, how does she have ear piercings?"
When a follower of Cain’s criticised Alcock’s appearance, comparing her to Land of the Lost character Cha-Ka, Cain replied: "Dang it. I laughed."
Many jumped to Alcock’s defence and roundly criticised Cain’s comment. “Do men really have to do this hate campaign thing anytime a woman leads a superhero movie?” one Reddit user asked, with another posting: “It's important for super-macho alpha 40+-year-old men to have something to do in between whining about Disney princess movies.”
An additional person added: “She’s doing A-list work and she’s good at it. What does he have going on?”
As well as playing Superman, Cain, 59, appeared in the six-season CW show Supergirl, starring as Dr Jeremiah Danvers, the adoptive father of Superman’s cousin Supergirl/Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist).
He’s since stepped away from acting and turned his focus to law enforcement and political advocacy, supporting the Trump administration. In January 2026, Cain announced that he was joining ICE to support Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Last year, he applauded the White House for releasing a meme of President Trump wearing the signature red cape and tights, a post that also attracted plenty of derision from responders, pointing out that Superman himself is an immigrant to Earth.
Supergirl will be Alcock’s first mainstream lead role, and she told The Associated Press she’s found the experience “kind of disorientating”.
"I do this job because it gives me the ability to disappear,” she said. “So then to like suddenly be so visible and so exposed is a very vulnerable experience. I’m just trying to learn how to deal with that relationship.
“But I mean, it’s exciting. Of course it’s exciting. But like anything exciting, it’s also terrifying."
Supergirl is soaring into cinemas on 26 June.
