Supergirl was not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. Not only did it open to only 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it only made an abysmal $126 million at the box office – for context, that’s lower than 2023’s The Flash and Sony’s Morbius managed. It’s now in the club of the most disappointing superhero movies of all time. So, how on earth did Milly Alcock just win Best Actress in a Superhero Movie at the Critics Choice Super Awards for Supergirl? Every corner of the internet that spent all of July laughing at the film’s disaster just felt a vein pop.
A Deep Bench of Snubbed Nominees
Alcock beat out an impressive list of actresses who’ve recently starred in superhero movies, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Vanessa Kirby and Julia Garner, Mortal Kombat II‘s Adeline Rudolph, and Masters of the Universe‘s Camila Mendes and even Superman‘s Rachel Brosnahan (who was probably the favorite to win in the category). You almost have to assume Alcock caught the voting panel with a little heat vision on the way in.
But she wasn’t the only Kryptonian winner of the night. David Corenswet also took home Best Actor in a Superhero Movie for Superman, making it a really good evening for James Gunn’s DCU.
How Supergirl Became a $175 Million Committee Project
But that’s an understandable win; Kara Zor-El’s victory, not so much. See, the production of this film was a mess from the start, and the studio knew long ahead of time that they had a dud on their hands. The film was reportedly tested into mediocrity by committee, with Warner Bros. eventually building its own competing cut and pitting it against director Craig Gillespie’s version in test screenings that never broke out of the 60s. The studio’s cut won by two points. Two points decided the theatrical release of a $175 million movie.
Everything about the film that audiences called out after the film’s release was an issue in the edit already – including the film’s soundtrack. Supergirl‘s now-mocked cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” reportedly beat out a Cyndi Lauper needle drop that tested better with audiences. But DC Studios didn’t care; they did their own thing anyway.
The Trailer Warned Us
After the first trailer dropped, we called it “Guardians of the Galaxy on a hangover”, and that assessment held up disturbingly well. Supergirl borrowed James Gunn’s needle drops and scrappy space-outlaw energy from his Marvel days without borrowing any of the jokes or the characters that made that formula work. In fact, the only unconditionally beloved performer in the entire movie was Krypto. Not even Jason Momoa’s Lobo got that award.
Was the Performance Actually That Good?
So, how exactly did Alcock still pull off a win? Well, the argument would be that the award is handed out according to performance and not the box office receipts. And that’s true. But can we honestly say that Alcock brought anything special to the character? Yes, she played a Kryptonian refugee who is angry and displaced (drawn from Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). But she’s nowhere near as instantly lovable as Melissa Benoist’s version or her own cousin. But that was on the page, right? But even still, we’ve seen better performances from Alcock as young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon.
Yes, Alcock is a fine actress. And perhaps if she was given different material, the Supergirl box office would’ve looked a little different. Because, if we’re honest, the real problem was that a solo tentpole movie needed her to also find the version audiences wanted to spend two hours with, and Supergirl never quite let her do both.
The Real Snub Here
This is the part that should actually annoy people, and not because Alcock didn’t deserve it. It’s because of who was standing next to her on that ballot.
Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane in Superman did more with less screen time in a movie that actually worked, critically and commercially. Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm carried the emotional center of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a film that landed with critics and audiences alike, in a way Supergirl never managed. Even Camila Mendes, stuck inside Masters of the Universe, a movie that flopped just as hard as Supergirl did, arguably had more fun and did more with a thinner role. On pure “which actress made the strongest case for her film,” Brosnahan and Kirby have real arguments.
Supergirl was a genuine theatrical disaster and a case study in how not to make a superhero movie, and none of that is Milly Alcock’s fault per se, but giving her an award for best actress for the film is crazy talk. Lex Luthor must be involved with this somehow.
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