The new Supergirl has already flown straight into the usual new superhero movie storm. There is box office chatter, franchise second-guessing and plenty of online debate about whether the 2026 calendar release’s take on Kara Zor-El works. Some fans are picking the movie apart, and after a $37 million domestic opening, even DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has acknowledged the film did not open where the studio hoped. But Helen Slater knows a little something about what happens when a Supergirl movie does not land the way everyone wanted and she has some thoughts about the newest DC movie release.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress who played Kara in the 1984 Supergirl offered a much warmer response to Alcock’s version than some of the online pile-on:
I loved the new Supergirl film, I thought Milly Alcock was astonishing — fierce, strong and great comic timing!
That is a pretty lovely vote of confidence from someone who has actually been in the suit. The original big-screen Kara Zor-El was only 18 when she landed the role for the original 1984 movie, which served as her acting debut. She told the outlet she trained for roughly four months before filming, gaining 15 pounds of muscle through trampolining, fencing, horseback riding and other physical work.
Slater’s experience also gives her perspective on the harsher side of this conversation. Her Supergirl was planned as the start of a three-film run, but the 1984 movie made just $14 million domestically and the sequels never happened. She says she knew the movie had not done well because they did not make the second and third films, though she stayed busy afterward with other projects.
That context makes her support of Alcock feel even more generous. The Legend of Billie Jean actress is not looking at the new Supergirl from some untouchable throne of franchise perfection. She knows what it is like to be attached to a version of Kara that becomes part of a bigger industry conversation, including the uncomfortable one about money.
Slater later appeared in Smallville, played Eliza Danvers on the CW’s Supergirl series opposite Melissa Benoist, and returned in a now-infamous de-aged form for 2023’s The Flash alongside Christopher Reeve’s Superman. Her connection to Kara is not frozen in 1984. It has kept evolving with DC’s various screen eras, sometimes in ways nobody could have predicted.
That may explain why Slater sounds so open to Alcock’s version. She earned a doctorate in mythological studies and depth psychology and describes her studies as helping her appreciate how mythic characters are retold over time. In her view, these stories should change because that is what keeps them alive.
That is a pretty interesting way to think of the Kryptonian character. Kara cannot just be one thing forever. We had Slater’s version, Benoist’s version, Sasha Calle’s version and Alcock’s version, and they all reflect different moments in superhero storytelling. Fans can have favorites, and criticism is fair, but treating every new interpretation like an attack on the last one makes the whole thing feel smaller than it needs to be.
Alcock’s Supergirl may be facing a rougher landing than DC wanted, but the OG Supergirl performer’s response cuts through some of the noise in a welcome way. The original big-screen Kara saw the new one, and she liked what she saw. Anyone who wants to make up their own mind can still catch Supergirl in theaters, so check your local listings for showtimes.
