The Flash's Super Bowl trailer provides a closer look at Sasha Calle’s character, “Kara," and here's what you need to know about her. The Flash’s multiversal story sees the return of various DC characters, including Michael Keaton’s Batman, Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, and Michael Shannon’s General Zod. But apart from these known faces, it also introduces one new Kryptonian hero who will don Superman's iconic suit in his absence: Kara Zor-El.
Barry Allen’s arrival in a different DC universe puts him in the middle of General Zod’s invasion. But as The Flash movie's Super Bowl trailer suggests, Henry Cavill’s Superman is not there to save Earth in this universe. Instead, a female Kryptonian may be the one who will stop the villain. While many characters have taken Superman’s place throughout the decades, Sasha Calle’s Kara is quite different from the rest.
With a similar costume and a similar powerset to Henry Cavill's Superman, Sasha Calle's Kara seems either like a female version of the Man of Steel or a new take on his iconic cousin, Kara Danvers. Both of these descriptions have some truth to them, as this new superhero is a bit of both.
Kara Is The Flash Movie's Supergirl (From Its Alternate Universe)
Instead of the classic version of Supergirl, who coexists with her cousin Superman as the last children of Krypton in most DC universes, Sasha Calle is playing an alternate-universe version of the character in The Flash. In The Flash’s Super Bowl trailer, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen says “it’s not Clark” when he sees her, which suggests that Henry Cavill’s Superman is either dead or doesn’t exist in The Flash’s new universe. Instead, Sasha Calle’s Kara is the Kryptonian who comes to Earth and fights General Zod.
Curiously, Sasha Calle’s Supergirl looks very different from any iteration of Kara Zor-El. Instead of the blonde Kryptonian who usually dons a skirt with her supersuit, Calle’s short-haired Supergirl looks extremely similar to Lara Lane-Kent. In the Injustice universe, Lara Lane-Kent is Superman’s daughter from a different universe, where she’s active as a superhero alongside her father. In The Flash, however, it seems Sasha Calle’s Supergirl is visually inspired by Lara Lane-Kent, but is simply an alternate-universe version of Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, who will replace Henry Cavill's Superman.
Kara's Supergirl Origins In DC Comics Explained
Supergirl's origin story has been updated several times in DC Comics. However, the basic concept remains the same. Born to Superman's uncle and Zor-El and his wife Alura, Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth after Krypton's destruction just liker her cousin Kal-El. Previous versions of her origin story have her frozen in a state of stasis before she lands on Earth. In the current version of her story, Supergirl grows up in her home city of Argo after it survives Krypton's destruction thanks to her father's efforts. But eventually, Argo collapses and Kara's father decides to send her away as Krypton's true last survivor.
How Powerful Supergirl Is Compared To Superman
As a Kryptonian powered by the Earth's yellow sun, Supergirl possesses the same abilities as Superman, including super strength, super speed, heat vision, X-ray vision, and flight. Likewise, Supergirl shares Superman's weaknesses, namely Kryptonite and magic. But while both Superman and Supergirl are extremely powerful and remain in the top strongest characters in the DC universe across many realities, Supergirl has one big advantage in her lower self-restraint.
In DC Comics, Supergirl has singlehandedly destroyed a moon, withstood a nuclear blast, and vaporized a tidal wave with her heat vision. She has also survived her transformation into a Red Lantern and has heated up her own body to the temperature of a star. Kara doesn't hold back against her opponents, and has beaten up DC powerhouses such as Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Superman himself. As The Flash's Super Bowl trailer suggests, Sasha Calle's Supergirl is just as powerful and relentless as her comic book counterpart, and it's possible that she could be even stronger than Henry Cavill's Superman.
Why Kara Is A Prisoner In The Flash Movie
The Flash's Super Bowl trailer features Supergirl in full costume fighting against General Zod with the help of Michael Keaton's returning Batman and both versions of Barry Allen, but it also shows a few shots of her in a very poor physical state. Supergirl's scenes as a prisoner in The Flash seem to be inspired by DC's Flashpoint storyline, where Kal-El is held captive and experimented on by the government in what they call "Project Superman". This version of Kal-El lives through a painful and lonely childhood before he gets the chance to break free and become Superman. In The Flash, Sasha Calle's Supergirl may suffer the same fate.
How Kara Fits Into The Flash Movie's Story
Given that Andy Muschietti's The Flash is adapting various elements of DC's Flashpoint storyline, it's likely that Sasha Calle's Supergirl is replacing Kal-El as the main subject of "Project Superman". In her universe, she may not have been well received when she came to Earth, and instead of living a peaceful like with Jon and Martha Kent, she may have lived like a lab rat for years until she got a chance to break out and demonstrate her heroism to the world.
In Supergirl's universe, General Zod is only now invading Earth, and Kara may not be known as a superhero yet. Barry Allen's arrival may be the key to her escape from imprisonment, which allows her to face Zod and save Earth from being terraformed. This would make her one of her universe's main superheroes, possibly alongside Michael Keaton's Batman and Barry Allen's multiversal counterpart. After the events of The Flash, however, the future of Sasha Calle's Supergirl is uncertain, as the DCU's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow may take place in a different universe. Whether Sasha Calle will reprise her role as Supergirl in that movie is still unknown.
