Sasha Calle's Supergirl Deserves To Live On In The Rebooted DC Universe
Spoilers for "The Flash" follow.
"The Flash" is the end of the DC Universe on film as we've known it for the past decade. The last vestiges of Zack Snyder's vision are wiped away and James Gunn and Peter Safran's new chapter begins soon. Now, it probably won't be a clean break — I can't see Gunn wiping away his own "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker." Still, Gunn's "Superman: Legacy" will introduce a new Man of Steel, just as "The Brave and The Bold" (helmed by "Flash" director Andy Muschietti) will debut a new Batman, played by neither Ben Affleck or Michael Keaton.
The biggest question mark is Supergirl. A version of Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle) appears in the alternate timeline where much of "The Flash" takes place. One of the upcoming DC Studios movies is a Supergirl feature, based on the Tom King/Bilquis Evely comic mini-series "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow." The logical jump is that Calle will headline this picture — but that has yet to be confirmed. According to Gunn, "We're still figuring all that stuff out."
Since Calle was cast under the previous DC regime and hasn't been in the role long, it would be easy to replace her with a different Supergirl. "The Flash" also doesn't confirm whether Calle's Kara exists in the new, "restored" timeline at the end. However, I'd argue Gunn and Safran should keep her on.
A second first chance
Sasha Calle doesn't have much of an acting resume. From 2018 to 2021, she had a recurring part on the long-running soap opera, "The Young and The Restless." It's from here that she was plucked to be the new Supergirl, yet "The Flash" barely counts as a first chance; she only gets about 10 minutes of screen time. It feels like more moments involving her character were cut, since her decision to help the other heroes lacks connective tissue with her previous refusal.
However, Calle holds her own against her more experienced co-stars; I never would've guessed her experience was so scant. By the film's end, I wanted to see more of Kara — and would be happy to do so if she returns as the lead in "Supergirl" itself. Calle seems eager to return — and not just for her career prospects, but out of love for her character. Speaking to /Film's Jenna Busch-Henderson, Calle said: "I'm excited to take her apart and put her back in and just enjoy her with the world. I think there's so much story to tell, and I would love to continue playing Supergirl."
A "Dead on Arrival" feeling has hung over "The Flash" for some time — it's a holdover from previous Warner Bros. management and Ezra Miller's offscreen behavior during 2022 was outright illegal. Calle, though, is an innocent party in all this. "The Flash" was meant to be her big break and it wound up compromised by studio politics and a criminal star. If given another chance to fully realize her take on Kara Zor-El, she clearly has the potential to succeed. Moreover, recruiting new, up-and-coming talent is a good idea if Gunn and Safran intend for their DC Universe to span as long and wide as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has.
"The Flash" is playing in theaters.