D’Arcy Carden Is Certain the ‘A League of Their Own’ Finale We Never Got to See Will Happen One Day [Exclusive]

One of the most baffling and frustrating streaming stories of the decade remains the surprise cancellation of A League of Their Own. Season 1 of Prime Video’s new adaptation of the 1992 Geena Davis classic was a critical grand slam, earning a Certified fresh 95% score from critics and an 87% mark from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, while also landing honors from the GLAAD Awards. It succeeded in bringing viewers back to the WWII-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with a new team of Rockford Peaches to root for and a funny, heartfelt story of chasing dreams and self-discovery that delved into themes of sexuality, homophobia, and racism that the original film never touched. Instead of channeling Ernie Banks and saying “Let’s play two,” however, the streamer waffled, giving a half-hearted half-season renewal before using the dual Hollywood strikes as an excuse to scrap it altogether. D’Arcy Carden, for her part, is still holding onto hope this game isn’t over yet, though.

Carden recently sat down with Perri Nemiroff for an episode of Collider Ladies Night for her new movie, Sketch, where the topic of A League of Their Own unsurprisingly came up. Before the show’s untimely cancellation, Carden had played Greta Gill, the Peaches’ bold and charming star who enjoyed a blossoming love affair with co-star and co-creator Abbi Jacobson‘s Carson Shaw. The show ended with the Peaches losing the championship series, but enjoying a sweet reunion around the bases before having to bid farewell for the season. Plenty of intrigue was set up for Season 2, too, as Charlie (Patrick J. Adams), Carson’s husband, spotted her and Greta sharing a goodbye kiss. It left viewers wondering what Carson’s plan was now that her secret is out to the absolute worst person possible.

Alas, viewers never got to see the final innings of this story play out. Carden was fortunate enough to see what the ending was from Jacobson, but she lamented that everyone else was denied that closure. In planning for Season 2, there were some questions internally about whether the smaller episode count was even worth it or if it would feel like shortchanging a story that deserved more breathing room. Yet, the actress said Jacobson and co-creator Will Graham‘s plans convinced her that the ending needed to happen for everyone involved, even if it was a little shorter than expected.

“I know what the end was. Abbi took me through what the end of the season would look like. When it was sort of presented like a shortened season, that was sort of even a question. Do we even want to do that? Is that too short? When Abbi told me what it would look like, I was like, ‘We have to do it. It’s too good. That has to be wrapped up in this way. That would be so fulfilling to us as actors, to the fans of the show, who put so much love and energy into it, that deserve the period at the end of the sentence instead of the dot, dot, dot.’ Meaning I do have a little bit of closure because I kind of know where the characters end up at, but that’s not fair for everybody else.”

Carden Wants to Continue ‘A League of Their Own’ in Any Form

The conversation about A League of Their Own began with Nemiroff asking about the potential of a movie to wrap things up. Carden is definitely open to the idea, if it’s possible, but in reality, she’s open to just about anything to explore the Peaches again. “I think it was two years ago yesterday or two years ago this week or something. I saw an old screenshot of us talking to each other about it, and it was almost exactly two years ago,” she said about a past conversation with Jacobson. “I think the story is worth telling, and it’s up to Abbi. However, she wants to do that, whether it’s, I don’t know, a book, a graphic novel, or a movie for other actors 15 years from now, a reading.”

Greta and Carson’s stories aren’t the only ones that need a conclusion. Carden and Jacobson shared the screen with no shortage of talented actresses, including Chanté Adams, Roberta Colindrez, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Molly Ephraim, and Melanie Field. Even though Max (Adams) got her happy ending and a lot of arcs were wrapped up, that doesn’t mean it would be a blast to reunite. “I would be down,” Carden reiterated about getting back together to make Season 2 happen in some form. “Love those girls so much. That was a special time with special actors, and we really all fell in love with each other pretty hard.”

‘Sketch’ Brings Carden to Theaters in an Imaginative Way

For now, viewers can see Carden again in theaters with Sketch. Released back on August 6 and directed by Seth Worley, the fantastical comedy feature follows a widowed father and his kids as they scramble to save their town from the monsters unleashed from his daughter’s sketchbook after it fell into a magical pond. During their rush to track down all the bizarre creatures, he also tries his best to bring his family back together after the tragedy that left an emotional rift between them. As inventive as it is emotional, the film has been a hit with critics, with a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s all carried by some strong performances from Tony Hale and Carden, as well as young actors Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence.

Sketch is in theaters now, and A League of Their Own is currently available to stream in its entirety on Prime Video. You can watch Carden’s full episode of Collider Ladies Night below.