Why Flashpoint is the Perfect DCEU Flash Origin Story

The Flashpoint movie just might be the perfect origin story for Barry Allen. Warner Bros. Pictures originally announced plans to develop a Flash solo movie in 2014, when they also confirmed their initial lineup for the unofficially titled DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Ever since then, the project has gone through multiple stages of development, but due to multiple director changes and constant alterations to the script, it was never able to move into production and start filming. That will, hopefully, change now as the project seems to be progressing smoothly behind the scenes.

Game Night filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are set to direct The Flash solo movie, which is expected to be based on the Flashpoint comic book limited series. WB confirmed the movie's title (and presumably its main comic book inspiration) during their Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. While the announcement was met with surprise and excitement by many fans, a great number of fans were concerned that Flashpoint wouldn't be the right story for Flash's first solo movie out of the gate. But that's a sentiment we wholeheartedly disagree with. Here's why.

Related: All 26 Upcoming & In Development DCEU Movies

This Page: How a DCEU Flashpoint Can WorkPage 2:  Why Flashpoint Is Perfect & What It Could Mean

How Flashpoint Can Work In The DCEU

Ezra Miller as The Flash in Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice

For those that aren't aware of the Flashpoint story arc, it's a 2011 comic book crossover written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Andy Kubert. It was designed to reboot the DC Universe for the first time in over 25 years, by having the Flash travel back in time to prevent his mother's murder by the Reverse-Flash. But by doing so, Barry Allen accidentally created an alternate timeline in which he wasn't the Flash and Bruce Wayne wasn't Batman, and Aquaman and Wonder Woman were at war with each other. To prevent the end of the world, Barry managed to recover his powers and travel back in time once again, this time to prevent himself from saving his mother. And in doing so, he created the New 52.

Flashpoint's purpose was effectively to reboot the DC Universe, which is why many fans believed Warner Bros. is trying to reboot the DCEU with Flashpoint on the big screen, but that's not necessarily the case. Instead, they could be using the film to bridge The Flash's origin story with the rest of the shared universe, by also potentially giving audiences some sort of closure to Zack Snyder's Knightmare storyline and perhaps even giving Ben Affleck a send-off as Batman. Audiences were first introduced to Flash in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which Barry Allen travels back in time to warn Bruce Wayne/Batman about Superman, Darkseid, and the Knightmare timeline. Bruce then knew that Flash could time travel, but Barry doesn't know that.

Related: Flashpoint Shouldn’t Reboot The DCEU

One of the easiest ways for the Flashpoint storyline to resolve the Knightmare arc and connect back to Batman V Superman in addition to being a sequel to Justice League is for Affleck's Batman to appear. If that happens, Bruce could finally tell Barry about what happened in Batman V Superman - the time travel, the Knightmare, everything. That would, then, bring the story full circle and reveal to Barry that he has the ability to actually save his mom. In that case, if Bruce were to tell Barry all of this towards the beginning of the film, that could then become the impetus for Flash to travel back in time, prevent his mother's murder, and kick off the Flashpoint timeline.

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Key Release Dates
  • Aquaman (2018) release date: Dec 21, 2018
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