Fans were excited to see the skinny Superman in action when they heard The Flash will be remixing Flashpoint. The film’s use of Sasha Calle as Supergirl, however, is a departure from the comics. It’s great that DC is finally making a movie starring a strong female character, and that the heroine is getting a new theatrical treatment after Helen Slater.
Warner Bros. was able to leverage Supergirl’s popularity after the Arrowverse series, which helped ease the transition from Henry Cavill to Superman. Kara’s de@th is the most startling moment in the film, but also one of the most troubling because of the film’s overall tone-deafness.
Supergirl’s De@th in The Flash: A Difficult Scene to Watch
Supergirl/Kara Zor-El partners up with Batman (Michael Keaton) and two versions of Flash (Ezra Miller). Kara dies trying to prevent General Zod (Michael Shannon) from reestablishing Krypton on Earth.
It hurts less for Batman since Michael Keaton is a seasoned actor and Tim Burton gave Bruce Wayne a lot of screen time. Fans were looking forward to Supergirl’s success, but Zod and Faora managed to stab her. They take Kara’s DNA in order to create new Kryptonians.
It doesn’t matter how many times Alt-Barry tries to save them by going back in time, they always perish and Kara loses her power. Kara’s choice is frightening because it involves witnessing several horrific de@ths.
Time and again, Kara’s fridging takes center stage in the time sphere montage, while Batman is largely ignored. For young women who hoped to see an El family member as a role model, Zod’s decision to kill Supergirl and use her body to generate life is deeply upsetting.
Watch the Flash final trailer:
The Flash’s Fridging of Supergirl Sends a Harmful Message
Supergirl’s appearance in The Flash is an example of token female representation. Supergirl and, later, Blue Beetle were popular because they featured Latino heroes, who are underrepresented in the superhero genre.
Unfortunately, Kara turns from a prominent player who was anticipated to shine to someone who is continually slain so that Barry can grow as a person. Because of this, Barry Prime becomes rivals with Barry Alternate, who has a crush on Kara but is constantly trying to alter the past.
As Kara’s de@th shows, Barry is powerless to alter the course of events. It’s horrible, though, to elevate them by resorting to the “dead mom” cliche, and then to add Kara’s fridging on top of that. Instead of constantly harping on Kara, they may have learned their lesson after Bruce’s de@th.
The fact that Kara’s de@th was completely unnecessary adds insult to injury. There is already sufficient motivation for her to push the Barrys to undo the Flashpoint and rescue the original reality, what with her having lost Kal-El and her home world having been destroyed. Then everyone could have let go in a way that was more nuanced and connected to Kara’s message of optimism.
Kara’s musings about family and the House of El symbol go unrewarded at the end of The Flash. Calle’s unclear future in the DCU makes it seem like The Flash squandered a valuable resource. It’s already aggravating enough that this happened following the cancellation of the Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace; doing it again sends the message that BIPOC women are not valued.
Unfortunately for Calle, it appears that neither James Gunn nor Peter Safran has any plans for her Supergirl. She wants very much to play Supergirl again in the future DCU revamp because of this. But if this is a one-time thing, then it’s insensitive.
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