The Flash: All the Big DC Movie Connections Explained

Man Of Steel

The Flash uses the events of Zack Snyder's first DC film, Man of Steel, and uses it as the catalyst for the film's third-act twist.

Because Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) changes the course of the DC Universe's history, Kal-El/Superman never makes it to Earth, while his cousin Kara Zor-El crashes there instead – and is promptly locked away by Cadmus. When General Zod arrives on Earth this time, there is no heroic Kryptonian to oppose him, leading to every horrific thing that would've happened had Superman not snapped Zod's neck.

Another scene reveals that Barry Allen showed up in Metropolis during Man of Steel's climactic battle – but since it was early in his attempt to be The Flash, Barry could only save one person, a young boy – whose father died in front of him. That would define Barry as a hero, thereafter.

Batman (1989)

Tim Burton's Batman (1989) is clearly a major influence on The Flash as Michael Keaton's Batman and the iconography that Burton built around him (his suit, his gadgets, the musical score) are paid heavy-handed homage throughout The Flash's story.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The presence of Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne/Batman and Barry's flashback to the Battle of Metropolis both carry forward ideas and themes that Zack Snyder started building all the way back in Batman v Superman – including the strange connection between Bruce and Barry when it comes to big changes to the DC timeline.

Zack Sndyer's Justice League

Justice League's Snyder Cut is referenced multiple times in The Flash – both through the very fact that Flash is teammates with the Justice League, and encounters Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) at various points in the film. The same goes for his friendship with Batfleck, which began in Justice League.

Barry's entire idea to run backward through time using the Speed Force in The Flash is born from the Snyder Cut sequence where he breaks the limits of time/space, and runs backward through time to save the Justice League from annihilation.

Flash also contains a meta-joke about both Zack Snyder's Justice League and Joss Whedon's version of the film, when Barry and Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) are catching up and try to remember if they 'ran into each other' the year prior. Clemons' scenes as Iris were infamously cut from the theatrical cut of Justice League before the Snyder Cut put them back in.

Wonder Woman

The Flash's references to DC's Wonder Woman are pretty direct: Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman (and her thumping theme song) shows up in the opening act to aid her Justice League buddies.

Aquaman

The Aquaman franchise gets a shoutout in The Flash in two scenes:

1. In the "Flashpoint" timeline Barry tries to make contact with Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa), only to get his a very confused Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison) on the phone. The Flashpoint Tom Curry had never met a mermaid queen from the sea and fathered a half-human, half-Atlantean superhero child.
2. When Barry gets back to his own timeline at the end of The Flash, he meets up with Arthur Curry for drinks and a little debrief about his adventure. The Flash post-credits scene hilariously shows a completely hammered Aquaman being carried out of a Central City bar by Barry, eventually falling facedown into a puddle of water on the street (don't worry, he won't drown!).

Adventures of Superman

The classic 1950s Superman TV series gets an Easter egg in The Flash by having the likeness of Adventures of Superman actor George Reeves as Superman appear on one of the DC Universe worlds Barry sees in The Flash's climactic sequence.

Batman (1966)

Adam West's Batman from Batman (1966) is just briefly spotted, filling shelves of his own world in the multiverse incursion scene.

Superman (1978)

The Flash's climactic multiverse incursion sequence also stops by the universe of Richard Donner's Superman movies, with a CGI likeness of iconic actor Christopher Reeve appearing in his classic Superman costume.

Supergirl (1984)

The Supergirl (1984) movie gets paid homage right alongside Richard Donner's Superman (1978), as a CGI version of actress Helen Slater's Supergirl flies up to join Christopher Reeve's Superman onscreen, as their shared universe is threatened by incursion.

Superman Lives

Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton almost ended the 1990 with their now-infamous movie Superman Lives. Written by Kevin Smith, and based on the "Death of Superman" story arc of the '90s, the film was as epic in scope as it was weird in aesthetic.

Behind-the-scenes footage of unique costume concepts for Cage as Superman and crazy concept art of Superman battling a giant spider floated around the Internet for years – and The Flash finally gives fans a brief taste of what could've been, if Superman Lives had not died in development.

Batman & Robin

The Flash ends on a shocking note by paying homage to one of the most infamous DC movies of all time: Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin!

When Barry Allen fixes the tragic mess he made of the DC Universe timeline, he comes home thinking everything is as it was – but he's very wrong about that. As Michael Keaton's Batman warned, when messing with the timeline, not every strand of reality can be "fixed" again. So when Barry gets back to his own reality he finds that he's erased Ben Affleck's Batman from existence, and replaced him with George Clooney's Batman!

Clooney was the Batman actor who starred in Batman & Robin, where he scandalized the DC fandom (and the world) with his Batsuit nipples.

The Flash is now streaming on Max. See below for the latest DC Universe updates.