Millie Alcock is embracing a queer take on Supergirl. At the world premiere of Supergirl on Monday night, she explained why she believes Kara Zor-El has become such a meaningful character for LGBTQ+ fans.
“I’ve had a few people ask me about her during Pride Month and stuff, and I think she’s a really good representation of what a modern woman can be,” Alcock told Variety at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. “She can be strong, she can be tough, she can be messy. And I love that this movie is not centered around love or romance or anything like that at all. She’s very resilient. And I think the[LGBTQ+]community is very, very resilient. I’m really honored that they can connect with her.”
Alcock made headlines at the beginning of the press tour for Supergirl when she told content creators that she was “honored” to read Kara’s queer voice, saying her character “doesn’t live in the binary of what we think women should be.” This portrayal is very different from the traditional Supergirl portrayed in the 1984 film starring Helen Slater, in which Kara falls in love with a groundskeeper named Ethan and becomes embroiled in a love triangle involving a magical aphrodisiac.
Alcock sheepishly admitted with a guilty smile that he hadn’t seen Slater’s Supergirl. In a recent Variety cover story, the actor revealed that he spent two months training for the role, but mostly avoided superhero movies. She has never seen Marvel’s Black Widow or Captain Marvel, or even DC’s Wonder Woman. “This is probably not great,” Alcock said. “You’d better lie!”
Alcock says that DC Studios co-CEO and “Superman” director James Gunn “definitely” helped expand her knowledge of superhero movies, but her favorite comic book movies aren’t from the DCs or Marvels of the world. Instead, she cited Pixar’s “The Incredibles.” “That movie was really, really good,” she says. “Both of you are amazing!”
Beyond its direct connection to Superman, starring David Corenswet as Kara’s Kryptonian cousin, Supergirl is designed to stand on its own. Director Craig Gillespie says he intentionally avoided drawing inspiration from 1984’s Supergirl or other legacy DC films.
“I didn’t[make that reference]because I was afraid of going down a path that wouldn’t allow me to be as creatively open as possible,” Gillespie explains. “So for a long time, I stuck to the script and just fed off of it. I wanted to create a world that put the characters first.”
This doesn’t mean Gillespie completely ignored comics. When developing the visual language for Supergirl, the director said he frequently returned to Tom King’s acclaimed Supergirl: Women of Tomorrow, and used its artwork as a creative touchstone.
The Women of Tomorrow, released in 2022, is widely regarded by fans as the definitive modern version of Kara Zor-El. The series effectively elevated this character beyond simply being seen as Superman’s female counterpart, reimagining her as a more emotionally complex, world-weary hero still grappling with the trauma of Krypton’s destruction.
Director King, who has consulted on more than a dozen projects for DC Studios, said adapting The Women of Tomorrow required “letting go of everything” and trusting the filmmakers to create “something beautiful” with a “particularly cool” interpretation of Kara Zor-El.
“Supergirl has a certain coolness to her. She’s an outsider. She’s someone who isn’t immediately accepted into the world and has some baggage,” King says. “Honestly, I stole it from my daughter who has that unique kind of coolness. Just to see that kind of coolness spread and people relate to it, it means the absolute world to me.”
