Melissa Benoist Weighs In on the New DC Universe Casting Its Supergirl

TV’s former Supergirl has shared her thoughts on House of the Dragon alum Milly Alcock being tapped to play the Girl of Steel on the big screen, in James Gunn’s new DC Universe.

Alcock will headline the yet-to-be-scheduled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow film as well as appear in various DC projects — including a possible role in (the newly retitled) Superman, starring David Corenswet (The Politician) as the titular Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult (The Great) as Lex Luthor, Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Elsbeth) as Perry White, Skyler Gisondo (Santa Clarita Diet) as Jimmy Olsen, Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabel Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi (For All Mankind) as Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamopho, Sara Sampaio as Eve Eschmacher, Maria Gabriela de Faria as The Engineer and Terence Rosemore as Otis Graves.

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Alcock beat out a number of rising starlets to land the coveted role, including The Winchesters’ Meg Donnelly (who had previously voiced Supergirl in a number of animated projects) and CODA’s Emilia Jones.

“Milly was the FIRST person I brought up to [DC Studios co-chief] Peter [Safran] for this role, well over a year ago, when I had only read the comics,” James Gunn shared in January on Threads. “I was watching House of the Dragon and thought she might have the edge, grace and authenticity we needed for the DCU’s Supergirl. And now here we are. Life is wild sometimes.”

And Benoist’s take?

Speaking with ScreenRant about Alcock’s casting, the star of TV’s six-season Supergirl (which ended in November 2021) said, “I think any and all takes on the character are valuable because of what she stands for.

“Supergirl as an entity is iconic for a reason and has been since the ’50s,” Benoist continued. “I personally think that every iteration of her is valuable for young women to see, and hopefully [with] every take on her, someone will see themselves in it.”

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Alcock was first introduced to American audiences as the young Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which premiered in 2022. She only appeared in the first six episodes, though, with Emma D’Arcy taking over the role of Rhaenyra after a time jump. Season 2 of House of the Dragon is slated to debut on HBO this summer.

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