In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dean Cain played a humble, kind and generous Superman/Clark Kent who stood for truth, justice, and always protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. But what he did this week on X was the exact opposite of that. The 59-year-old actor openly laughed and commented on a meme comparing Milly Alcock, the young actress playing Kara Zor-El in DC Studios’ upcoming Supergirl film, to Cha-Ka, the ape-like creature from the 1974 TV series Land of the Lost. Worst of all, when he was called out on it, Cain doubled down.
What Dean Cain Actually Posted
On June 7, Cain reposted a promotional image of Alcock alongside the caption: “Wait… if Supergirl’s skin is bulletproof, how does she have ear piercings?” — a comic accuracy question that had been doing the rounds recently. Then another user replied with a side-by-side picture comparing Alcock to Cha-Ka, asking “And why does she look like this guy?” That’s the post Cain laughed at. “Dang it… I laughed 😅,” he reshared, which has since clocked 4.5 million views.
To be clear, Cain didn’t write the insult. But he boosted it, laughed at it publicly, and when the blowback arrived — he leaned in more.
Dean Cain Doubles Down On Critics
Rather than acknowledging that punching down at a 26-year-old actress’s appearance wasn’t a great look, Cain fired back at his critics: “The SUPERGIRL bots and virtue-signalers are in full ‘activated’ mode… Why so sensitive? It’s not even out yet.”
When one fan pushed back saying Alcock isn’t unattractive and that the studio simply released unflattering promo images, Cain replied: “I never said she was ugly.”
When another told him “Being an actor is a privilege. I enjoyed your Superman role — I grew up with it. I won’t criticise your acting, but this isn’t it Dean. You were loved by hundreds of thousands around the world. She’s a young kid getting into the business, show her the love they showed you” — Cain’s response was “They call me Sushi Man.” It was a reference to the racist slurs he has reportedly received for his Japanese heritage, deployed here as deflection rather than reflection.
Since the original post, Cain has replied to or reposted at least 20 posts in the thread. One fan said it plainly: “I can’t believe I grew up watching this guy play Superman. To see him serve and feed on internet hate towards another person, especially a young woman, makes me really sad.”
What This Means For Supergirl
The timing couldn’t be worse for Warner Bros. Supergirl is already fighting an uphill battle — audience tracking shows awareness climbing while actual interest in seeing the film remains flat. A former Superman amplifying appearance-based mockery of the new Supergirl 16 days before release is not the conversation DC Studios needs right now.
More than that, it’s just disappointing. Dean Cain’s Clark Kent was warm, decent, and genuinely heroic. A generation grew up with and still loves his version of Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman to this day. Milly Alcock is at the beginning of what could be a defining run as one of DC’s most iconic characters. She deserved better. Especially from someone who should know exactly what it means to carry that cape.
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