Everything We Know About Sasha Calle’s Supergirl In The Flash Movie

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for The Flash.

The Flash

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The Flash sees Sasha Calle as Supergirl in a story that revisits the events of Man of Steel in a different universe. The Flash stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, with the movie being the first solo entry for the speedster in DC’s movie history. The Flash‘s story focuses on the ramifications of Barry’s decision to go back in time to stop his mother from dying. In doing so, The Flash breaks the timeline and enters a multiverse-wide adventure.

The Flash‘s exploration of the multiverse, a theme that is at the height of popularity right now in superhero projects, is what allows Barry Allen to come face-to-face with a wide array of new and returning DC characters. The Flash‘s cast includes multiple Batman actors — with Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and George Clooney reprising their versions of the Dark Knight — as well as the return of Michael Shannon’s General Zod. While The Flash is a story about Barry Allen, most of the film’s action was tied to the events of Man of Steel, but with a twist. Instead of Henry Cavill’s Superman, the Flash fought side-by-side with Sasha Calle’s Supergirl.

The Flash Movie’s Supergirl Origins Explained

Sasha Calle plays Kara Zor-El, Kal-El’s cousin, in The Flash. Toward The Flash‘s ending, the younger Barry refers to Kara Zor-El as Supergirl, making it the first Supergirl appearance in a live-action movie since the 1984 Supergirl film. That said, The Flash‘s Supergirl was not from the DCEU’s original timeline. By going back in time to save his mother, Barry Allen accidentally broke the universe and create a slightly different version of the world he knew. In this alternate DCEU timeline, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth alongside Kal-El, although in different pods. Kara, who was older than Kal-El when Krypton exploded, was supposed to protect her cousin and the Codex.

However, before Kara and Kal could reach Earth, their escaping pods got separated. Kara Zor-El eventually made it to Earth, although not 33 years before the events of Man of Steel as it happened with Kal-El in the original DCEU timeline. Instead, Supergirl is significantly younger in The Flash than Superman was in Man of Steel. Another major difference is that Kal-El never made it to Earth in this timeline. Finally, Kara Zor-El was founded by mercenaries in Siberia and had been a prisoner ever since. Kara became a test subject for scientists to experiment on, which caused her to distrust humans in general.

How Sasha Calle’s Supergirl Fits Into The Flash Movie’s Story

The Flash‘s Supergirl story is a combination of both Superman: Red Son and Flashpoint, two DC comic books that showed how different Earth’s history would have been had the Kents not found Kal-El. Unlike Man of Steel, Kal-El did not have the Codex in his DNA. Instead, Krypton’s genetic database was infused with Kara Zor-El’s DNA. This is why General Zod goes to Earth looking for Supergirl. Supergirl’s story in The Flash is quite different from the original DCEU timeline, as Kal-El was sent to Earth alone in Man of Steel. The two Barrys, with the help of Keaton’s Batman, tracked down and rescued Supergirl, believing they were actually rescuing Superman.

The fact that Barry Allen saved Kara regardless of her not being the person he was looking for restored the Kryptonian’s hope and inspired her to fight for Earth. From then on, Supergirl’s story in The Flash becomes similar to that of Superman in Man of Steel. One of The Flash‘s Easter eggs was hearing General Zod’s speech play out quite similar to the one from Man of Steel, ordering the Kryptonian living on Earth to surrender. Supergirl helped the Flashes and Batman fight General Zod and the other Kryptonians. However, both Supergirl and Batman kept dying when fighting the Kryptonians, causing younger Barry to keep going back in time.

Sasha Calle’s Supergirl Comics Differences Explained

The Flash brings in a different version of Supergirl than the one seen in most comics, as it introduces Kara Zor-El through the multiverse rather than Superman’s cousin in the main timeline. While Supergirl has known loss in most of her comic book iterations, being one of the few survivors of Krypton, she did arrive on Earth to find a loving family. In some versions, such as the DC Animated Universe, Supergirl is even raised by the Kents. The Flash went in a different direction. Sasha Calle’s Kara Zor-El was put through painful experiments over the years, cut off from the sunlight that gives Kryptonians powers.

The Flash‘s Supergirl is also similar to recent Supergirl comics in the sense that Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to take care of Kal-El. In 2004, DC Comics retconned Supergirl’s story. DC changed the character from a Kryptonian who survived Krypton’s destruction and lived on another planet for years to someone who was supposed to have arrived on Earth with Kal-El. However, thanks to relativity, warm holes, or sometimes the Phantom Zone, Supergirl usually arrives much later on Earth and encounters an adult Kal-El while she is still a teenager. The Flash movie’s Supergirl is closer to this modern version of Supergirl’s mythos.

Everything We Know About Supergirl’s Powers

Sasha Calle’s Supergirl has mostly the same powers that Henry Cavill’s Superman displayed in the DCEU, which include super-strength, the ability to fly, and heat vision. Supergirl also displayed a form of freeze breath, although a bit different from the one Superman used in Justice League. While Kara possesses the same powers as Superman, she is sometimes an even greater danger to villains than the Man of Steel in the comics due to Supergirl’s lower level of restraint when fighting. The Flash‘s Supergirl was less experienced than Man of Steel‘s Superman, though, as she spent most of her life as a prisoner away from the sun.

After recharging her Kryptonian cells with sunlight and adjusting to Earth’s atmosphere, Supergirl suit up to fight General Zod. Kara took down every Kryptonian she encountered, yet she could not defeat General Zod. Supergirl’s death in The Flash was one of the fixed points mentioned by Barry and Bruce, which was also brought up in The Flash‘s post-credits scene. As such, despite her powers matching Superman’s, Supergirl was doomed to die in this alternate universe.

How Sasha Calle’s Supergirl Is Different From Henry Cavill’s Superman

Henry Cavill’s Superman lived a very different life than Calle’s Supergirl. Kal-El arrived on Earth as a baby, taken in by a loving family in the Kents. He then grew up to learn how to use his powers with the help of his family, although his father feared how the world would perceive him if Superman’s origin became public. Jonathan Kent was proven right, with Cavill’s Superman facing public backlash from not being human, leading to the character’s death — before being revived.

Calle’s Supergirl faces a different story in The Flash, especially since she and Cavill’s Superman are not from the same universe. Some aspects of Cavill’s DCEU journey as Superman are mirrored in Calle’s Supergirl story, of course. The fear Superman faced from both the general public and the authorities presents itself in The Flash, with Supergirl being locked away and experimented on for years due to her Kryptonian origin and the ambition to harvest the hero’s powers. Supergirl had no human attachments on Earth, which is why she initially refused to help the two Barrys and Batman. Inspired by the Flash, Supergirl ended up joining Barry’s new Justice League.

What Happened To Henry Cavill’s Superman In Supergirl’s Universe

One of The Flash‘s biggest reveals is that Zod found Kal-El’s pod and killed the baby to search for Krypton’s Codex. In other words, Ka-El died decades before he could become Superman in The Flash‘s alternate universe. In the original DCEU timeline, General Zod spent 33 Earth years looking for Kal-El. In The Flash‘s new universe, he found Kal-El as a baby. Zod’s mission was to find the genetic Codex so that he could rebuild Krypton. However, in this timeline, Jor-El did not put the Codex in Kal-El’s DNA. Instead, Kara was the key to Krytpon’s genetic code. Without Superman, the Flash had to form a team to fight Zod.

Will Sasha Calle Return As Supergirl In James Gunn’s DC Universe?

Supergirl died in The Flash, an event that neither of the Barry Allens managed to change. The entire universe Barry created by saving his mother no longer exists, as the Flash went back in time once more and reversed the change he originally made. Sasha Calle’s Supergirl does not appear in The Flash‘s ending, which introduced yet another alternate timeline where George Clooney is Batman. As such, in terms of the story, it is difficult to say whether Sasha Calle’s Supergirl would return in a potential The Flash 2. James Gunn’s new DC Universe begins in 2025 with Superman: Legacy, and the current DC Universe movie slate includes a Supergirl film.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow will be inspired by the Tom King comic book that reimagined Supergirl’s story in an arc that combined different aspects of Kara Zor-El’s DC Comics history. Whether The Flash‘s Sasha Calle will play Supergirl in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow remains to be seen. The new DC Universe is a reboot, yet at least one actor is confirmed to reprise their DCEU role in the rebooted franchise. Viola Davis will return as Amanda Waller in the Waller series. However, Henry Cavill will not play Superman in Superman: Legacy. As such, which DCEU actors will return and which characters will be recast is still unclear.