The Supergirl backlash now has a former Superman attached to it.
Dean Cain — who played Clark Kent on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from 1993 to 1997 — is taking heat after laughing at a meme mocking the appearance of Milly Alcock, who stars as Kara Zor-El in DC Studios’ Supergirl, out June 26.
Read our full Supergirl movie guide here.
What Dean Cain Actually Posted
It started on June 7, when Cain, 59, reposted a promotional image of Alcock with the caption: “Wait… if Supergirl’s skin is bulletproof, how does she have ear piercings?” — a comic-accuracy debate that’s been making the rounds.
To be clear, Cain didn’t write the insult that followed. Another user replied to the thread with a side-by-side comparing Alcock to Cha-Ka, the ape-like character from the 1974 series Land of the Lost, asking, “And why does she look like this guy?”
Cain’s response was three words: “Dang it… I laughed 😅”
That post has since racked up more than 4.5 million views, and the backlash came fast.
Fans Say He’s Torching His Own Legacy
The criticism wasn’t just that Cain laughed at an appearance-based joke aimed at a 26-year-old actress. It was that a former Superman chose to pile on a new DC star instead of defending her.
Critics accused him of punching down and “killing his legacy,” with several saying it changed how they look back on his time as the Man of Steel.
The framing across mainstream outlets was blunt, with headlines calling the comment “cruel” and reporting that Cain was “slammed” and “under fire.”
Other Fans Said It Was Harmless
At the same time, not everyone read it as cruel. A large share of fans framed Cain’s reaction as an honest laugh at an over-the-top meme and pushed back on the outrage as a major overreaction.
Their argument: Cain never actually insulted Alcock or called her ugly. He reacted to someone else’s joke comparing the promo image to Cha-Ka and admitted he laughed at it, which defenders called light roasting of the marketing and costume choices, not an attack on the actress.
Others leaned into Cain’s own framing, dismissing the backlash as virtue-signaling and “bots” working overtime for a movie that isn’t even out yet. Several pointed out that Alcock is widely considered attractive, arguing that made the “body-shaming” angle a stretch.
Cain Doubles Down
Rather than walk it back, Cain leaned in.
In a follow-up post, he wrote: “The SUPERGIRL bots and virtue-signalers are in full ‘activated’ mode… Why so sensitive? It’s not even out yet-“
When one user pushed back — arguing Alcock isn’t unattractive and that the studio simply put out bad promo images — Cain replied that he “never said she was ugly.”
James Gunn Seems Well Aware Of The Situation
The bulletproof-skin/ear-piercing question had been circulating widely, and DC Studios boss James Gunn took it on himself over on Threads to explain things.
“As explained in Superman, the same way she gets drunk – she goes to a planet with a red sun,” Gunn wrote. “Not to mention she was raised on a chunk of Krypton so didn’t even experience super powers until her teens.”
The reference points back to well established lore that Kryptonians lose their powers under a red sun, the same reason Kara can get drunk. In other words, there was opportunity for piercings before she ever had invulnerable skin or when she goes off to red sun planets to have a few.
Worth noting is that it’s the same image and post that Cain engaged with, so Gunn is likely aware of the conversation around it.
This Is The Backlash The Tracking Keeps Showing
The timing is the real story for Warner Bros.
Supergirl has been fighting fan pushback for weeks, from the PR campaign’s framing of critics to Alcock’s own comments about fans, the latter of which prompted DC Studios co-head Peter Safran to publicly back her.
And it’s showing up where it counts. The latest audience tracking has interest in the movie stuck while awareness climbs, a sign that more people are hearing about Supergirl without that translating into wanting to see it.
A viral pile-on featuring a former Superman two weeks out is not the kind of awareness DC Studios is hoping to build.
Supergirl flies into theaters June 26.
