Milly Alcock Reveals 16 Meters of Reeve Cape Material in Supergirl

milly alcock said her Supergirl cape was remade with material from Christopher Reeve’s original Superman cape, with about 16 meters placed in the back of the costume. The detail links Craig Gillespie’s upcoming film to the 1978 Superman franchise history without changing the release plan: Supergirl premieres in theaters and Imax on June 26.

Alcock and Reeve’s Cape

“My cape in this film was remade using material from the original Superman cape,” Alcock said on the Raiders of the Lost Podcast. She added, “Yeah, I think that they found there was like 16 meters of that material, so yeah, that’s in the back of my cape now.”

The reuse gives Kara Zor-El’s costume a direct physical link to the cape worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman in 1978, then Superman II in 1980, Superman III in 1983 and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in 1987. Reeve died at 52 in 2004, so the costume choice also functions as a legacy move rather than just a production flourish.

Craig Gillespie’s June 26 Release

Supergirl is directed by Craig Gillespie and adapts Tom King’s 2022 comic series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, with Ana Nogueira writing the screen version. Alcock reprises her role as Kara Zor-El, who celebrates her 23rd birthday while traveling across the galaxy with her dog Krypto.

Jason Momoa stars as Lobo, Eve Ridley plays Ruthye Mary Knolle, and Matthias Schoenaerts plays Krem. That lineup pushes the film away from a single-character showcase and toward a wider space-bound ensemble, which should give the June 26 launch a clearer commercial hook than a costume reveal alone.

Kara Zor-El’s 23rd Birthday

The cape detail gives the film a built-in continuity story: a new DCU outing is carrying a piece of the 1978 Superman costume into a 2026 release. For a viewer, the practical takeaway is simple — if you want the first look at that connection on a big screen, June 26 is the date, and the Imax rollout gives it the largest possible format from day one.