During the rush of news to come out of San Diego Comic-Con 2017, one of the biggest bombshells to hit the fan community was that DC Films’ upcoming Flash movie will be titled Flashpoint.
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Ever since hearing that iconic Flash comic book story associated with the character’s DC Extended Universe solo film, fans have speculating like crazy about what vision of the DCEU Flashpoint will paint, and what impact it will have on the continuity of DC’s cinematic universe.
After a lot of discussion and examination, we here at Comicbook.com are even more excited, as there many ways that Flashpoint can be used to explain certain strange events within the established continuity, while helping DC Films and Warner Bros. set up for the next phase of DCEU movies.
Here’s How Flashpoint Might Connect To Other DCEU Movies.
Batman v Superman
One of the weirder moments in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes halfway through the film, when Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne is asleep in the Batcave, only to have a vision of a nightmarish near-future (appropriately called “Knightmare”), where Superman has turned evil and thrown in with Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips. That Knightmare sequence ends with Bruce seemingly waking up to Barry Allen/The Flash, who is attempting to make contact with Batman over the span of space/time.
While this scene felt awkwardly out of place in the course of Batman v Superman‘s story, it would make sense in the larger arc of the DCEU as a connection to Flashpoint. Basically, if Barry Allen finds that he’s created a horrible future through his own selfish actions in Flashpoint, then naturally the first thing he would try to do is make contact with the past, and correct his mistake.
This would create a sort of time travel loop that would help to reframe one of the strangest moments in the DCEU as a smart and logical foreshadow. The only remaining question would be: who, exactly, was Barry warning Bruce about? For more on that:
More: Batman v Superman’s Flashpoint Tease Revealed?
Justice League
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the specifics of Justice League‘s story. We know that Steppenwolf, the miiitant general of Apokolips, comes to Earth looking to collect the mysterious Mother Boxes, and that the DC Comics heroes must unite to stop him. However, as the latest Justice League trailer teases (watch it above!), there may be some other players on the game board that the Justice League will have to deal with.
Justice League trailer #2 ended with the tease of Alfred sending a mysterious figure into what is presumably the final battle for Earth, with many fans speculating that that person is a resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill). That reveal is where a possible Flashpoint connection may be found…
More: Is Superman Really At the end of the Justice League trailer?
As the current fan theory goes, Justice League will see Superman resurrected from the dead – only, The Man of Steel will be enthralled to Darkseid and Apokolips, as a DCEU version of his evil ‘Bizarro’ counterpart. Superman, Steppenwolf, and the Parademons of Apokolips will prove to be too much for the League to handle, and they’ll actually get slaughtered in battle – save for The Flash, who will make one desperate run – faster than he’s ever run – into the past, to warn the League how to win the fight.
This would connect Justice League to the warning scene from Batman v Superman, but would also create a potential setup for Flashpoint. If Barry has never run fast enough to break the time barrier when the events of Justice League occur, Bruce Wayne’s knowledge that he is capable of doing it would be the proof and confidence Barry would need to achieve that feat.
If he successfully altered the past for the better, the Barry of the new timeline (where the League beats Steppenwolf and restores Superman to being a hero), would have a very misguided concept of what his time-travel power can be used for. And, once Barry identified something from his own past that needs correcting, his Justice League victory would be the inspiration needed for him to create the Flashpoint timeline.
It’s not a certainty, but it would create a tight loop of continuity between BvS, JL, and what comes afterward…
Batman
For Batman, the changes of the DC Comics “Flashpoint” storyline are pretty drastic: In Flashpoint continuity, it is Bruce Wayne who is gunned down in an alley one dark night (pun), and his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, end up slipping down very different slopes. Martha’s grief leads her to becoming The Joker, while Thomas’ anger with crime and injustice lead to him becoming a brutal, gun-toting version of Batman.
The Walking Dead stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan already play the DCEU versions of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and with a little time travel twist in Flashpoint, they could become the alternate versions of Batman and Joker (respectively). When Flashpoint is over, and a new timeline is restored, then Flashpoint Batman and Joker could be ported over to the main DCEU timeline, eliminating Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne from existence.
It would be a major turn that would give fans a different onscreen version of Batman and The Joker than they’ve ever seen before – and could be the exit that Ben Affleck may need from his role as Batman (and Jared Leto’s Joker with him), by the time Flashpoint is released.
More: Other Ways To Replace Ben Affleck’s Batman
Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern
While we don’t expect the Aquaman solo film, Wonder Woman sequel or Green Lantern Corps reboot to be directly affected by Flashpoint in any way, Barry’s meddling with timeline could indeed affect those respective characters, and setup events in the next phase of DCEU movies.
Aquaman and Wonder Woman both have big roles to play in DC Comics Flashpoint storyline: The King of Atlantis and Princess of The Amazons are actually betrothed to one another in the Flashpoint timeline – until Aquaman’s queen, Mera tries to kill Woner Woman out of jealousy. When Wonder Woman kills Mera, it sparks a war between Atlantis and Themyscira that consumes the entire world, leading to nuclear holocaust.
If the movie version of Flashpoint tackles that story thread, then the impact on Wonder Woman and Aquaman could be big. After all, even if Barry fixes his timeline error, it’s made clear in the comics that the timeline doesn’t simply revert back to its former state. Things will be different. That ramifications of those changes could send Gal Gadots Wonder Woman or (especially) Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman down drastically different new paths in DCEU Phase Two.
As for the Green Lantern Corps? Well, once they find out that an earthling has the power to alter all of reality, you can bet that the space cops will want to do something about it.
More DC Movie News
- New Justice League Trailer Released
- Ben Affleck Comments on Batman Departure Rumors
- Justice League SDCC Trailer Teases Green Lantern
- First Aquaman Movie Footage Premieres at SDCC
- Wonder Woman 2 Announced at SDCC
- Flash Movie Titled Flashpoint
- Batman Movie Universe Plans Revealed
- New Justice League Poster Revealed
In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman‘s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash — it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on a story by Snyder and Terrio, Justice League stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and J. K. Simmons.
Justice League currently has a 4.16 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Anticipation rating making it the third most anticipated upcoming comic book movie among ComicBook.com readers. Let us know how excited you are for Justice League by giving the movie your own personal ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating below. Justice League opens in theaters on November 17, 2017.
