Milly Alcock Has a Very Specific Reason Supergirl Would Beat Superman in a Fight
The age-old comic book debate over who would win between Superman and Supergirl has never quite gone away, but it just got a lot more entertaining. With DC Studios building out its new shared universe under James Gunn, the arrival of Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El has given fans a fresh, scrappier version of the Girl of Steel to rally behind, and the actress herself is fully buying into the hype surrounding her character.
Alcock made her DCU debut as Supergirl in last year’s ‘Superman’, introducing audiences to a messier, more volatile take on Kara than anything previously seen on screen. The film also confirmed that David Corenswet’s Clark Kent would appear alongside her in the solo follow-up, giving fans their first proper look at how the new franchise handles the dynamic between Earth’s two most famous Kryptonians. That setup has only deepened the rivalry conversation heading into the theatrical run.
At the world premiere of ‘Supergirl’ held in Brooklyn on June 22, Alcock was asked point blank who would come out on top in a one-on-one battle between her character and Corenswet’s Man of Steel. Her answer was characteristically confident and disarmingly funny. Speaking on the blue carpet, Alcock declared that Supergirl is “objectively stronger” than Superman, then added her twist: “I’m gonna win but it’s because he’s gonna let me win. Because he is… But I’m stronger. Objectively stronger.”
The comment landed somewhere between playful trash talk and genuine canonical argument, and it spread rapidly across social media. The dynamic fits neatly into what director Craig Gillespie has previously described as an almost older-sibling tension between the two cousins, telling Entertainment Weekly they share “this almost older-sibling dynamic and that can be adversarial,” with Superman leaning gentle and patient while Kara remains far more uncertain and volatile.
Alcock has consistently framed Kara as a deliberate contrast to her more composed cousin. In an interview with Empire, she explained that Gunn is “trying to do something very different and unexpected with her,” adding that Kara is “such a good contrast to Superman, because she’s a survivor of trauma in the purest sense.” That rawness is baked into the film’s premise from the opening frames, and it lends Alcock’s red-carpet bravado a surprising amount of narrative weight.
Preparing for the role was no small undertaking. Alcock revealed she learned five alien languages for the film and trained physically for an hour each day throughout production. She also reflected on the weight of committing to a character across potentially multiple films, telling io9 that she ultimately reasoned, “Who am I to turn down this opportunity? I get one beautiful life. I may as well just throw myself into something incredibly scary and incredibly exciting.”
‘Supergirl’ opens in theaters on June 26, and Alcock is already confirmed to return as Kara in ‘Man of Tomorrow’, scheduled for July 9, 2027. With the solo film arriving in just days and the internet already debating whether Kara could genuinely take Clark in a fair fight, the buzz around this particular Kryptonian corner of the DCU has never felt more alive. Do you think Supergirl actually has what it takes to outmatch Superman, or is Alcock just having fun with the question?
