By Pierre Lorenz on March 9, 2022 at 08:55 am

In june 2023 we'll see the release of "The Flash", one of the most anticipated DC movies of recent years. Similar to the "Loki" series and "Spider-Man: No Way Home", the first solo appearance of the superhero will open up a multiverse. So far, there is little information about the plot of the movie, so today in our latest Original you will not only learn everything about the production and the cast, but also our theories about the story of "The Flash".

Storyline

As mentioned at the beginning, the movie is the very first solo appearance of the lightning-fast DC superhero – at least if you leave aside the "The Flash" series, which now comprises eight seasons. Unfortunately, there are no leaks on the plot or even official information at the moment, because apart from a first trailer from October 2021, those responsible are still keeping a rather low profile. What is clear, however, is that the story told in the movie will be strongly based on the comic "Flashpoint", which is why we want to briefly introduce it to you.

The "Flashpoint" comics were published by DC in 2011 and were penned by Geoff Johns, who has also worked on almost all of the major DCEU movies and series in recent years, either as a producer or writer. The comic marks a seminal break in the DC canon, as "The New 52" begins after it, and thus a reboot of almost all the publisher's comic series. The comic's plot is extremely offbeat: for example, Superman is no longer with Lois Lane, but with Wonder Woman. The Justice League also looks different than before, because in "Flashpoint" it is no longer a state association, but just a loose gathering of various superheroes.

Barry Allen, aka The Flash, wakes up in a completely different world. He no longer has any superpowers, and his family is also completely mixed up. His actually dead mother is alive and his actually living father is dead. To make matters worse his nemesis Captain Cold is the celebrated superhero of Central City and the Justice League as we know it never existed. Looking beyond Central City, however, the extent of the changes wrought by the multiverse really becomes clear, as the world has gone completely off the rails. Batman's real name is Thomas Wayne, his son Bruce has been shot in an alley, and his wife Martha has become the Joker. The Amazons have conquered the United Kingdom and the Atlanteans, led by Aquaman, have submerged Western Europe.

Pretty messy, isn't it? Barry Allen thinks so too and seeks advice from Batman, where he realizes that he is not in a parallel dimension, but an alternate reality. He blames the villain Eobard Thawne aka Reverse-Flash for the chaos and wants to put a stop to him by reconstructing the accident that gave him his superpowers. After an unsuccessful attempt, it actually works, and he quickly sets out to contain the chaos that has arisen in the world.

Together with Batman and Cyborg, he wants to stop Wonder Woman and Aquaman. In addition, the trio finds a caged Superman, who has never seen another person in his life and is completely terrified. Slowly but surely, Barry realizes that he must stop Eobard Thawne at all costs. After some superheroes join forces, it comes to the actual showdown between Flash and Reverse-Flash, which ultimately ends victorious for the superhero.

During the subsequent trip to the past to set everything straight and save his mother from death, Barry realizes the existence of three timelines: DC, Vertigo and Wildstorm. A mysterious figure reveals to The Flash that the world has been split into three timelines to save it from the danger of the villain Doctor Manhattan. He should also look familiar to fans away from the comics, as the extremely powerful villain first appeared in the 2009 movie "Watchmen" and was also featured in the 2019 series of the same name. The three worlds eventually merge, and Barry wakes up in his bed, much like he did at the beginning of the comics, hoping it will all be over.

Now we know the story of the "Flashpoint" comics and have a rough overview of what happened. But what exactly will actually be seen in the movie? That is much more difficult to estimate. We can at least assume that the plots will be very similar, after all, even "Flashpoint" was originally intended as the movie's title. Lead actor Ezra Miller confirms that the movie is extremely important for the DCEU and screenwriter Christina Hodson speaks of the "cinematic multiverse" emerging from his movie. So "The Flash" definitely has the potential to be something like "No Way Home" for the DCEU. No matter how much of the comics will be adopted in the movie, we can look forward to an exciting and, given the actors, also a nostalgic blockbuster.

Production

Fortunately, the movie has long been wrapped up, because after filming started in April 2021, it was already completed in October. In fact, "The Flash" looks back on a long and in places uncertain production history. Back in 2014, Ezra Miller was signed to play The Flash, and the script was supposed to be written by Chris Miller and Phil Lord in the meantime. The two eventually left the project to work on "Solo: A Star Wars Story", which is why Seth Grahame-Smith was supposed to take over directing and writing. That didn't last either, as he left the project again in the spring of 2016 due to creative differences. He was followed by "The Mandalorian" director Rick Famuyiwa, who also threw in the towel after a few months. The production threatened slowly but surely to become a disaster and so Warner Bros. wanted to sign either "Back to the Future" director Robert Zemeckis or "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn, according to a report by Variety. You can already guess: that didn't work out either. Another unsuccessful station had the "Spider-Man: Homecoming" writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who were after all responsible for over a year until March 2019. This was followed by a radical reboot, as lead actor Ezra Miller encouraged a rewrite of the script and realized it together with comic legend Grant Morrison. Shortly thereafter, "Birds of Prey" writer Christina Hodson and "IT" director Andy Muschietti were signed on, who were ultimately allowed to keep their posts. Quite a turbulent story that took place before the actual shooting. In the end, however, it seems that with Hodson and Muschietti, two capable forces were found.

Cast

Let's move on to the cast of "The Flash", which consists of far more well-known people than just Ezra Miller. On the one hand, there is Ben Affleck as Batman. He embodies his own version that fought Steppenwolf together with Barry Allen in Justice League. The two characters are also said to be more connected than you might think, as Bruce Wayne is a mentor if sorts to Barry Allen. Another Batman will be embodied by Michael Keaton, as in "Batman Returns", and is also expected to play a major role in the plot. Another important character is Supergirl, who will be played by Sasha Calle. Unfortunately, it is not known if Supergirl will be Kara Denvers, Lara Lane-Kent or some other version. Barry's mother Nora will be played by Maribel Verdú and Barry's father Henry will be played by Ron Livingston. However, there are also some unconfirmed actors who are said to be involved in "The Flash". For example, Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman are said to be involved. That would make sense in light of the "Flashpoint" comics and is more than likely in our opinion. Cyborg is also expected to play a role and Ray Fisher has already indicated his willingness to play a role in "The Flash" in the past. The situation is similar with Zachary Levi as Shazam. However, it can be assumed that we will still have to deal with one or the other surprise guest, who will perhaps be teased in a new trailer.

Trailer

Even though the previous trailer from October 2021 is only relatively short, it's worth taking a closer look. We see a cab arriving at Wayne Manor in the trailer and we can recognize Michael Keaton's Batman quite well by his voice. He asks The Flash what the reason for his fight to save the universe is. Considering the plot in the comics, we suspect that the woman in the trailer is Barry's mother Nora, for whom he went through the hardships of time travel in the first place. At the end, we see a group of three characters: The Flash, Supergirl and a mysterious third person. This one visually looks a lot like The Flash, but somehow ends up being different from the main character. Since the release of the trailer, there have been many speculations about this third character, some think of another Flash like Jay Garrick, others see Eobard Thawne aka Reverse-Flash. Despite the comparatively short duration of the trailer, you can already guess a few things and hopefully we can look forward to a real trailer with new material from the movie soon.