You may be surprised to learn that some of Supergirl's scenes had to be
toned down for the theatrical release of "The Flash." Was there excessive nudity?
Gratuitous violence? We're here to let you in on what you missed.
Andy Muschietti's new film "The Flash" takes place largely in a parallel universe. Early
in the movie, during a moment of grief, the title hero discovers he can run so quickly
that he passes through an aperture in space/time and enters a mysterious pocket dimension called
the Speed Force. From this pocket dimension, the Flash can travel through time. Perhaps recklessly,
the Flash travels into his own past to save the life of his mother. Naturally,
this causes a major error in causality, creating a timeline where there are two
Barry Allens. Any student of "Back to the Future" might have predicted such a result.
"This is my face. You stole my face!"
What Barry didn't count on, however, was that causality works in both directions. The Flash's
time travel shenanigans didn't just create an alternate future, but also an alternate past.
As such, when Barry Allen goes to Wayne Manor to enlist the aid of Batman, he doesn't find
his familiar friend Ben Affleck playing the role, but rather a 70-year-old Michael Keaton instead.
"You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts."
The two Flashes and the elderly Bruce also know that a certain Kryptoniansuperbeing
crashed on Earth years before — only in this timeline, they are being held
in a special Siberian prison. Both Flashes and Batman attempt to break Superman out,
only to find his cousin Kara Zor-El — also known as Supergirl — instead.
Supergirl's escape is brutal. Having been kept in solitary confinement in a concrete silo for years,
the superheroine is ready to take off some heads. When she's exposed
to sunlight and develops her Kryptonian superpowers, lots of baddies get wrecked.
In a recent interview with Collider, actress Sasha Calle even pointed out
that the scene was originally even more violent than it was
in the film's final cut. She didn't say what specific violent acts were excised,
but does hope to see a completed edit of the silo scene someday. In her words:
"The silo scene was a lot longer [...] I did a lot of stunts for that scene. And some,
I think, we're a little too 'rated R' [...] Maybe
one day I can ask Andy to let me see them [...] I would love to see it."
Given the current state of the Blu-ray market, there's every reason to believe that an extended
cut of "The Flash" — perhaps even an R-rated one — would eventually come to home video.
While "The Flash" is lighter in tone than some of its predecessors,
it's still part of the ballyhooed DC Extended universe, sometimes called the Snyderverse.
As such, an increased level of violence would merely match films
like "Man of Steel" and Zack Snyder's extended version of "Justice League."
Releasing more of Calle's stunts would also provide justice for the actress who,
because of the current state of movies based on DC comics, may not be back for any sequels.
As many likely know, the Snyderverse is coming to an end.
"Well…I'll be in touch."
Producers James Gunn and Peter Safran have recently been assigned the task of
rebuilding the DC Comic cinematic universe from the ground up. Their approach has
been to shake the Etch-A-Sketch and erase everything currently drawn out. That means
all of the films in the "Man of Steel" series are being brought to an end and
an entirely new continuity will begin with a film called "Superman: Legacy."
This means that "The Flash" may likely be the only time Calle gets to play Supergirl. This is a pity,
as her stern character and violent nature reveal a character just at the beginning of their arc.
If "The Flash" were in a position to receive a sequel, or were poised to have a "Supergirl"
solo spinoff film, Calle could likely reappear as someone calmer and more heroic.
Supergirl knows how to fight a bad guy, of course, but hasn't yet lived among humans
or discovered why the Earth was worth saving the same way Superman might have.
If a "Supergirl" solo film is not going to be made,
then the least the producers of "The Flash" can do is release an extended
version of the movie with as much footage of Calle as possible. She wants to see
her own stunts in all of their glory, so it's possible that everyone else wants to as well.