When audiences think of an interconnected, cohesive, expansive movie universe, they think of the MCU, or ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe.’ For the most part, they do not think of the DCEU, or the ‘DC Extended Universe.’ However, one movie is set up for the chance to fix a hobbling DCEU, and that isThe Flash.
The DCEU is fragmented, disjointed, and lacks the critical acclaim and accolades that litter the floor at Marvel Studios. It has a narrower tent of fans; the box office numbers alone confirm this to be true. The only throughline between2016’sSuicide Squadand 2017’sJustice Leaguewas that Ben Affleck’s Batman was in both films (although much less prominently featured in the former). Tonal shifts from one movie to the next are enough to give fans drastic whiplash.
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Enter Barry Allen, or better known by his alias, The Flash. Here is a crimson-clad superhero capable of running faster than the speed of light. Audiences were introduced toThe Flashon the silver screen inJustice League, to mixed results. The movie bombed at the box office, and at times The Flash seemed to be out of place as the jokester ona stoic team of battle-hardened heroes. While his humor was a welcome reprieve in an emotionally muted cinematic universe, The Flash’s personality marked him as more of a Peter Parker clone than a unique character.
However, that is fortunately not where this hero’s journey ends. The DCEU fan base might be dwarfed by that of the MCU, but the former’s legion of followers punch well above their weight. Famously, they were able to pressure Warner Brothers into releasing Zack Snyder’s four-hour cut ofJustice Leaguethis past March.Zack Snyder’s Justice Leaguefeatured almost entirely original material, and a far larger and more significant role for Ezra Miller’s Flash.
InZach Snyder’s Justice League, The Flash saves the world by slowing and eventually reversing time at the last viable moment. Aptly, The Flash might have to do the very same thing for a cinematic universe. There is a way to do that, and it is extraordinarily simple. Do what few DCEU movies have done: remain faithful to the source material and the main character’s motives and traits.
The Flash first hit bookshelves inFlash Comicscirca 1940. That is nearly as old as Batman and Superman, and just a year older than Wonder Woman. Given that the character is approximately the same age as the DC ‘Trinity,’ it is only fitting that he plays such a large role in DC’s cinematic universe. However,The Flashneed not harken back to World War Two for inspiration on the silver screen. If the creative team is wise, it has already read (and re-read) 2011’sFlashpointgraphic novel. After all, the trailer that Warner Brothers released over the past weekend featured a few aspects of that story.
Flashpointwas written by Geoff Johns, a writer who had writtenThe Flashcomics at the dawn of the 21st century. The graphic novel pinpoints The Flash’s desire to go back in time and save his mother before she is murdered. The Flash succeeds, but at a great cost. By altering the universe’s timeline, he essentially creates a new one. A universe where he has no powers, and where The Flash does not exist. By the time the five-chapter graphic novel comes to a close, The Flash has to piece back together the pieces of a broken universe and accept the fact that he has to let go of his mother for the greater good of the world.
An older, darker Batman is prominent inFlashpoint. It is actually not Bruce Wayne, but his father, Thomas, who dons the cape and cowl. In the altered universe The Flash creates when he saves his mom, it’s Bruce that dies, not Martha and Thomas Wayne. This forges an older, grittier Batman who is not averse to killing. This Batman is integral to the story, and helps The Flash regain his powers.
The Flash’s teaser trailer informed audiences that this is a story that includes at least two Flashes, a Supergirl, and a couple of iterations of Batman. It will be interesting to see how the Batman angle plays out,as both Ben Affleck and Michael Keatonare confirmed to be in the film. Both of their interpretations of Batman were fairly brutal, and both were Bruce Wayne as opposed to Thomas Wayne. This will be Keaton’s first appearance in the DCEU, and it is fair to speculate that he will be Thomas Wayne.
The Flashis uniquely situated to fix several of the DCEU’s great mistakes. It can stay faithful to a fan-favorite and fairly recent graphic novel. It has the nostalgia of a Keaton Batman with the younger audience’s familiarity of Affleck’s Batman. The movie can widen the DCEU’s fan tent by focusing on a young, vibrant, fairly comedic character at its center. It can connect to previous DCEU movies, making it feel like an episode of something greater. Lastly, it can rewrite the DCEU by actually altering the universe itself given The Flash’s power to run so fast that he can manipulate time.
In the beginning ofThe Flash’s trailer, a voiceover says, “you’re able to go anywhere you want, any timeline, any universe.” For thesake of the DCEU, audiences and critics alike should be hoping for a fresh universe with a renewed timeline. This way, Warner Brothers can start recasting crucial roles with actors who are aging out of their roles. They can also start fresh with better, more faithful stories, and a more connected universe.
