The singer behind the divisive “The Middle” cover that closes out Supergirl is finally speaking out, and the details make the ending sound even more last-minute than it already looked.
Kelty Greye tells THR she recorded her slowed-down version of the Jimmy Eat World hit in her bedroom three years ago, long before DC Studios came calling.
She only found out it made the movie two months before the June 26 release.
The cover quickly became one of the most argued-about parts of the film, with fans questioning why a stripped-down, melancholic version of a 2001 power-pop anthem plays over a major action moment for Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El, something we covered as part of our breakdown of what went wrong with Supergirl.
The Supergirl Cover Was A Three-Year-Old Bedroom Recording
Greye, a still-unsigned artist who works a day job at a customer support call center in Nashville, says she recorded the track between classes while studying commercial songwriting at Middle Tennessee State University.
“I recorded that in my bedroom between classes in a little booth I built out of packing blankets and PVC pipe,” she said, adding the recording was never altered for the film.
The cover came together through sync licensing agency Think Music, which paired Greye with producer KidMotel and handed over a list of possible songs. Greye, a violinist, pitched slowing “The Middle” down, adding strings, and softening the vocals.
“It’s such a powerful song, and I love the message. It was really, really cool to sing it as a woman,” she said.
So the closing needle drop for a DC Studios tentpole was not some custom-made studio commission. It was a three-year-old bedroom recording from an unsigned artist, licensed years later and dropped into the movie exactly as it was.
DC Considered 45 Songs For The Supergirl Ending
Greye also says she had no idea her version would end up as the film’s final needle drop, and she was not allowed to tell anyone about it until release day.
“Things were always up for debate,” she said of the song’s placement.
Per THR, director Craig Gillespie has said 45 songs were considered for that spot, with a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” coming close to getting the nod instead, which, per THR’s Supergirl leak, was Gunn’s pick. However, that didn’t go over well in screen tests, so they tossed it.
And that tracks with everything else surrounding the film’s ending, as Rolling Stone had to issue a correction over Gillespie and the Supergirl ending, following word the movie tested like Batgirl with a Gunn cut in play.
The Cheapest Part Of Supergirl May Have Been Its Final Song
Put the pieces together. DC Studios auditioned 45 songs for the emotional capper of its movie and landed on a three-year-old bedroom recording from an unsigned artist, licensed through a sync agency and used exactly as recorded.
Master licenses for unsigned shelf tracks are about as cheap as movie music gets, typically a small fraction of what a commissioned cover or name artist would cost.
The bigger check in a deal like this goes to Jimmy Eat World’s publisher for clearing the song itself, not for the recording that actually plays in theaters.
Which means the final needle drop of a movie staring down a theatrical loss of around $244 million was likely one of the cheapest line items in the entire production.
None of that is a knock on Greye, whose track at least got a reaction. The judgment calls around it are another story.
The Song Backlash Is The Least Of Supergirl’s Problems
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has admitted the opening did not meet expectations, which is putting it mildly given where the numbers landed.
The fallout continues to pile up, as a leak out of Warners points to James Gunn being out, with Gunn’s DC contract expiring as the Paramount merger closes.
Add in that filmmakers reportedly don’t want to work with Gunn’s DC, and it’s easy to see why Gunn and Safran have already been called the biggest losers of 2026.
Kelty Greye Is Handling It Better Than DC
To her credit, Greye is taking the response better than the studio is taking the numbers.
“As an artist, all you want to do is make people feel something. So, what an honor to have created something that gives people a wide spectrum of feelings. Whether you loved it or hated it, if you walked out feeling something, that’s just cool,” she said.
She added: “At first, it was a little surreal. I just was seeing my name pop up on things and was like, ‘That’s wild.’ But after the first 24 hours, I was like, ‘You know what? That’s cool. I’m down. Any feelings you want, it’s cool.'”
Greye, who recently released her debut EP, Haunt Me, says she hopes to someday connect with James Gunn to thank him for the opportunity. Based on everything coming out of Warners, she may want to do that sooner rather than later.
