Why Jeffrey Dean Morgan Isn't Flashpoint Batman in The Flash Movie

Multiple Batmen appear in The Flash movie, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan isn't one of them. The Walking Dead and Supernatural star played Thomas Wayne, the gunned-down father of future Batman Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In the comic book Flashpoint storyline that partially inspired the movie, Barry Allen wakes up in an altered timeline where the young Bruce died from a criminal's bullet — and it's Thomas Wayne who becomes the brutal Batman of this world. It's a world where Aquaman's kingdom of Atlantis is engaged in a cataclysmic war with Wonder Woman and the Amazons of Themyscira, another storyline not present in The Flash.

"We didn't want to give the audience a literal adaptation of the comic book. I think that's one of the good decisions that we made," director Andy Muschietti told EW about not adapting Flashpoint. "If you see the movie, you don't know where this is going. And as much as some people would've liked to see that literal adaptation, I think we did the right thing. I think that they will be gratified by seeing that the story takes another direction."

Instead of Morgan's Batman, a time-traveling Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) accidentally creates an alternate-reality where the Justice League doesn't exist. To fix the timeline, Barry must first join forces with the Kryptonian Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and a different Batman (Michael Keaton) to save this world from the invading General Zod (Man of Steel's Michael Shannon).

Morgan has long been willing to suit up as a darker Dark Knight, telling ComicBook: "Ever since [director] Zack Snyder walked away [from the DC Extended Universe], my whole kind of bit in that world has walked away with him."

"Look, the top of my list has always been Batman. That's always been my favorite super hero and talking about Flashpoint has been very fun. I get asked about it a lot. I love the story of Flashpoint. Who knows? Who knows with DC? Who knows how these franchises work?" Morgan said previously. "I suppose I probably have a two or three year window and then I'm gonna be too old. There's no way. Look, I'm available. Everybody knows I'm available. I say I'm available, I've been saying it for five years. We'll see what happens." 

The Flash opens in theaters June 16th.