Sasha Calle once had a much larger role as Supergirl in the DCEU, according to multiple reports.
Calle was cast as the Kryptonian heroine in The Flash back in 2021 where she reportedly beat over 425 other actors for the role. At the time, it appeared Calle would become the DCU's canon Supergirl alongside the likes of Ezra Miller's Flash and Ben Affleck's Batman.
However, with the restructuring of leadership within DC, Calle's future as Supergirl is no longer certain.
The Flash's Original Ending
Production on The Flash wasn't exactly smooth. Even the original ending of the film didn't make it to the screen intact.
As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter (THR), The Flash originally ended "on the courthouse steps" with Sasha Calle's Supergirl and Michael Keaton's Batman returning. This ending would have "reversed the deaths of Supergirl and Batman" and was supposedly meant to highlight that "Barry did not reset the timeline as he thought he did."
This ending was clearly planned for a long time. As per set photos, the scene had already been filmed and was "screen-tested several times." It would have also left the door open for Calle and Keaton to return to their superhero roles.
So why did it not make it through to the final cut?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie got "caught in the lightning storm" of the Discovery and Warner Bros. merger in 2022. This involved the ousting of longtime DC executives Walter Hamada and Toby Emmerich and saw Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy take over as Warner Bros. CEOs.
The new executives were temporarily tasked with overseeing DC and apparently "had their own plans," including a different ending for The Flash to support the new direction of the DCU.
Sasha Calle's Supergirl Movie
With many of the DCU's heroes receiving their own solo movies, it was once thought that Sasha Calle's Supergirl might do the same.
A 2021 report indicated that a solo Supergirl movie was in development. This came shortly after the news of Calle's casting, so it seemed like she would be fronting the film.
However, following the unprecedented axing of Batgirl, Rolling Stone reported DC insiders saying that the Supergirl movie "is not likely to move forward."
Potential DC Team-Up Movies
Even if a solo Supergirl movie wasn't meant to be, it didn't rule out Calle's appearance as the character in other DC movies.
At one point, The Hollywood Reporter stated that De Luca and Abdy were keen on keeping the "SnyderVerse heroes" and desired "possibly even having another Justice League movie with those actors."
This would presumably include Calle as Supergirl, as she was introduced within the SnyderVerse continuity.
If not Justice League 2, Calle may have had a place in a rumored Crisis on Infinite Earths movie. THR reported in 2022 that Hamada once had plans to adapt the "seminal DC Comics story" that had previously been used in the Arrowverse TV shows for film. But it seems this film fell by the wayside with Hamada's firing.
Will Sasha Calle Play Supergirl Again?
Calle has been outspoken about her hopes for Supergirl in the future, saying she would love to "dive deeper into Kara." However, given the final ending of The Flash, which keeps the death of Supergirl canon, it seems unlikely she will reprise the role, at least in this DC universe.
Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are in charge of DC Films, the events of the DCU have essentially been wiped clean post-The Flash.
The good news is that Supergirl does have a place in this new DCU, with a Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movie amongst the announcements in Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
At the time of the announcement, the executives said they were "still figuring out" who would play Supergirl in their version of the DCU, but given the casting that's currently happening for Gunn's Superman: Legacy film, it seems likely they'll start fresh for Supergirl as well.
It's a shame that Calle wasn't utilized more in the DCU, but she's not the only actor to have had their superhero role quashed, with Keaton's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman futures suffering similar fates.
