WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League, now streaming on HBO Max.
The characters that form the core of the Justice League are such pop culture icons in their own right that they exist in the mind of the audience as something larger than their depictions on screen. In that sense, the Superman theatergoers see flying in to save the day in Zack Snyder's Justice League is more than just the director's version, and for that reason, it can be easy to gloss over details that shouldn't make sense in-universe. For instance, there's no real reason for Wonder Woman to call Superman "Kal-El" in the new cut of the film.
Believing that their team is not strong enough to stop the coming threat of Steppenwolf and Darkseid, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman opt to resurrect the only being they believed will have the power they need: Superman Undertaking a mission to restore him to life, the Leaguers are ultimately successful, but their plan proves a potential failure when Superman is not instantly restored to his good-natured self. Zack Snyder's Justice League expands on this scene as it does many other elements of the film, but it does so by adding a detail that makes little sense.
Entering into a fight with Superman after Cyborg loses control of his own weapon systems that identify him as a threat, the League is barely a match for the powerful Kryptonian. Completely overwhelmed, Wonder Woman pleads with "Kal-El" to stop his assault on her and her teammates. Her words have no effect on stopping him, though, and nor should they. Kal-El is a name that Superman only even came to recognize as his own in his adulthood, and outside of a few mentions of it by fellow Kryptonians and the media. he almost never goes by that name.
There's also the mystery of where she even came across the name. Although it was used on news broadcasts during Zod's demands for the red-caped hero in Man of Steel, Wonder Woman only ever met Superman once before in the battle against Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. She had little familiarity with him and little reason to expect that she could get through to him, and the appeal to his humanity that ultimately comes with Lois Lane results from Lois referring to Superman by the more familiar name he grew up with: "Clark."
Reminding Superman of his humanity really isn't a situation that calls for referring to his alien heritage, and Wonder Woman's use of the term feels more like a transplant from their relationship in the comics than it does their relationship onscreen. In DC Comics, the two characters are far more familiar with one another and Superman often embraces his alien heritage in a way his big screen counterpart never has.
Sure, it's a subtle detail and easy to skirt over, but these are the kinds of things that make little sense when they're really honed in on. It was clear with the theatrical release of the film that quite a lot was left on the cutting room floor, but with Zack Snyder's Justice League, it appears almost nothing was left out. A scene explaining Wonder Woman's usage of the term was likely never created in the first place, but with her using it during the Justice League's fight, it seems that it's one that should've made the cut.
Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.