With a high-octane trailer released earlier this year, the upcoming “The Flash” has managed to get DC’s mojo back in live-action ventures. The much-anticipated superhero flick, which will officially mark the end of the existing DC Extended Universe (DCEU) as we know it, is going to take inspiration from DC’s “Flashpoint” storyline, which saw the creation of an alternate timeline separated from the prime DC universe, which will be replicated in the upcoming movie to some extent. Following the comics, some existing, some new, and some alternate versions of some fan-favorite characters will appear in the movie as “The Flash” kicks open the doorway for the DC multiverse to be explored for the first time on the silver screen. We will briefly discuss the characters who are confirmed to make an appearance in the upcoming movie and also those who have been rumored to appear since the production began. First, let’s talk about the characters who are confirmed to make an appearance in “The Flash.”
Barry Allen AKA Flash And Alternate Barry Allen
Ezra Miller will reprise the role of DCEU’s Scarlet Speedster, aka the titular character of the movie. The movie marks their fifth appearance as Flash in the DCEU, right after “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” in 2021. Following the storyline of “Flashpoint,” the movie will track Barry in his effort to undo a fateful incident of his past that changed his entire life—the murder of his mother, Nora Allen. In his previous appearance in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” we saw him basically rewriting reality by running so fast through Speedforce that he rewinded time, thereby saving the Earth from total annihilation. This incident must have instilled newfound confidence in his abilities, which he once again uses to go backward in time and do the unthinkable. Barry’s actions create a ripple effect through the time stream and change the course of history forever by creating an alternate timeline. As the trailer suggests, unless he stops his previous interference, both his and this alternate timeline are doomed.
After Barry succeeds in his attempt to save his mother, he gets stuck in the alternate timeline where another version of him already exists, who grew up differently than him and was bereft of any powers. Ezra Miller will portray this alternate version of Barry, as shown in the stills and released trailer.
Bruce Wayne AKA Batman Of Prime Earth DCEU
Ben Affleck will return to reprise his role as the prime earth version of Batman in DCEU, probably for the last time. In the existing DCEU, Bruce is the mentor figure in Barry’s life, and both of them have an investigative background and share a sense of parental loss in childhood. Bruce recruited Barry during the invasion of Steppenwolf and helped him gain better control of his abilities by guiding his instincts. As Barry decides to take up the task of changing the past, Bruce, despite relating to Barry’s childhood trauma, warns him beforehand. Bruce’s warnings come true as Barry later gets stuck in the alternate timeline, as the trailer shows. The movie will be an emotional send-off to Ben Affleck’s much-beloved iteration of the Caped Crusader (if his cameo in Aquaman 2 has been omitted already).
General Zod And Faora-Ul
The opening chapter of the DCEU, “The Man of Steel,” had the ruthless Kryptonian General Dru-Zod and his lieutenant Faora-Ul pitted against Superman during the Black Zero event, which saw the aforementioned aggressors trying to terraform the Earth. The scenario will be replicated in the upcoming “Flash” movie too, as Barry’s actions create an alternate timeline where the Black Zero event unfolds for the first time. The situation is worsening as the alternate timeline apparently has no metahumans. Michael Shannon’s Zod and Antje Traue’s Faora are going to make an appearance in the upcoming film.
Bruce Wayne AKA Batman Of The Alternate Timeline (1989)
Barry’s actions in creating the alternate timeline change the prime DCEU as we know it, and in this altered universe, an elder Bruce Wayne operates in the streets of Gotham. In the “Flashpoint” event, the prime Earth Bruce Wayne was replaced by Thomas Wayne in the role of Batman as in the changed timeline, Thomas and Martha saw the death of their son, Bruce, which damaged each of the parents differently. While Thomas swore to enact vengeance on the grave of his deceased son by becoming the protector of Gotham, Martha went senile and became the Joker. Taking a cue from that, Michael Keaton’s fan-favorite version of the Caped Crusader in “Batman” (1989) will make a return to live action after three decades as the alternate timeline Batman in “The Flash.” The trailer already showcased him donning a new version of his classic Batsuit, delivering the iconic catchphrase with a grin on his face, and being as badass as ever, causing a massive nerdgasm among fans. Undoubtedly, the uber-cool version of Old Man Batman will be one of the highlights of the movie, although it has not been confirmed yet whether the character’s appearance makes the alternate timeline a part of Tim Burton’s Batman Universe or not.
Kara Zor-El AKA Supergirl Of The Alternate Timeline
In the “Flashpoint” timeline, the Kryptonian spaceship carrying an infant Kal-El did not crash land in Kent farms; rather, it was capsized by the US government, which tortured and kept the Kryptonian in a secretive enclosure, away from the sunlight or any meaningful human contact. In a subverted way, “The Flash” will show us an alternate timeline where instead of Kal-El, his elder cousin Kara Zor-El appeared on Earth and was held in seclusion by the government for a long time; hence we see her in an almost skeletal form initially. The trailer later shows her jumping into action in a healed stature as she rescues Keaton Batman and Barry from the military forces. Kara and Zod’s interactions will be interesting in the sense that she has not been nurtured in positivity or with a human connection like Kal-El was; on the contrary, she was brutalized and experimented upon by human beings during her life on Earth. Perhaps the friendship between Kara and Barry will be the key to her fighting for humanity in the end.
Rumored Cameos
“The Flash” will consist of time travel-related shenanigans and even some multiverse-hopping scenarios, which has raised discussions about the larger DC Multiverse being teased in some capacity. Also, from the looks of it, we are also speculating that the true villain is hiding in plain sight and that Zod will merely act as the primary antagonist. We will discuss some rumored cameos that might end up being confirmed after the movie hits theaters.
Flash Of CW Arrowverse
This has been a long-standing rumor, especially after the CW’s small screen adaptation of the mega-multiversal “Crisis on Infinite Earths” (2019–2020) showed Ezra Miller’s version of Flash sharing a screen with Grant Gustin’s Arrowverse Flash. CW Flash will run its last lap this year with the ninth and final season, and it is only fitting that the more experienced small-screen version of Scarlet Speedster makes a final appearance to pass the legacy to the silver screen version of the character.
Eobard Thawne AKA Reverse Flash
The character of Reverse Flash has been integrated with Flash’s origin in most of his modern origins, as he was the murderer of Nora Allen, and especially in the “Flashpoint” storyline, his presence is pivotal. It doesn’t make sense to exclude the very character who turned the tides of destiny to make Barry Allen the Flash in the first place. We are even speculating about the alternate Earth Barry being a body-swapped version of the man in yellow, and some of his dialogue choices, coupled with the character’s affinity with the color yellow, might hint at that too.
Aquaman And Wonder Woman
The “Flashpoint” timeline in comics was doomed because of the Amazonian-Atlantean war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, which resulted in global catastrophe and the eventual destruction of the universe. The rumors regarding the movie also indicated the characters portrayed by Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot, respectively, might make their alternate timeline appearances, although in a much smaller capacity.
Pre-Existing Multiverse
The vast arena of the DC Multiverse had already opened the gateway to opportunities in terms of bringing back some beloved characters in varying capacities. This is also backed up by various reports from the previous year’s test screenings, which indicate that during a trippy multiverse travel sequence, Barry might encounter various DC characters from yesteryear, like Christian Bale’s Batman, Christopher Reeves’ Superman, Brandon Routh’s Superman, and George Clooney’s Batman, to name a few. Nothing really is stopping the makers from showing a brief glimpse of the DC multiverse using the Crimson Comet, and it’s more likely to happen as CW Flash managed to pull it off already before DCEU or MCU even conceptualized utilizing the multiverse that way. After all, Flash was the pioneer of the multiverse in pop fiction, and his legacy will be honored if the first solo outing shows what a true multiverse of Madness can be like.
