The Flash took DC movie fans back in time to the dark moment of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, where Kryptonian invaders led by General Zod (Michael Shannon) come to Earth looking for one of their own. However, when Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) realizes that he’s created a new timeline (“Flashpoint”) that has no Superman to defeat Zod, it sparks a memory of the actual Battle of Metropolis that addresses one of the biggest criticisms of Snyder’s film.
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(WARNING: The Flash Spoilers Follow!)
General Zod’s arrival on Earth in the Flashpoint timeline happens much the same way: with Zod taking over the airwaves and television screens of planet Earth, and demanding that humanity give up the Kryptonian refuge hiding out in their midst. Barry’s younger variant elf is understandably spooked, and Older Barry lets him know why he definitely should be terrified…
How The Flash Addresses A Major Man of Steel Controversy
As it turns out, The Battle of Metropolis happened shortly after Barry first got his powers. He hadn’t yet mastered the Speed Force or even built himself a proper costume, but he rushed into the fray anyway. Zod’s World Engine and its gravity drill were destroying Metropolis and killing hundreds of citizens when Barry arrived on the scene. A father and son were caught in the gravity pull, but Barry was only able to save the son, as the father was crushed by the impact. It was a major trauma for Barry, as it echoed his own inability to save his own parents, and stoked some of the first embers of Barry’s dangerous desire to use his powers to fix things beyond his control.
When Man of Steel was released, the Battle of Metropolis was the biggest and most divisive part of the film, by far. Some DC and/or Superman fans are still upset with Snyder for depicting a 9/11-style attack on Metropolis without one hero (namely Superman) making an attempt to save innocent lives. The backlash was so great that Snyder took it and spun it into the narrative conflict of Batman V Superman, as Bruce Wayne/Batman’s conflict with Superman is born out of his inability to intervene and save people when Superman and Zod were slugging it out.
Now The Flash has added the notion that Barry Allen/The Flash also tried to save the people of Metropolis, but was similarly out of his depth to do so. All we need now is to find out what kept Diana/Wonder Woman off the battlefield – or why Arthur Curry/Aquaman and Atlantis had nothing to say about Zod’s World Engine nearly boiling the Indian Ocean.
The Flash is now in theaters.
