The latest tease about the DC Extended Universe’s The Flash is all about the title hero and the appearance of Michael Keaton’s Batman, bringing their logos together, but what could this mashup mean for the movie? The DCEU continues expanding and finding a new tone so its characters can connect with the audience. After the underperformance of Justice League in 2017, Warner Bros. has been changing its vision for the DCEU, keeping previously introduced characters, giving some of them solo adventures, reimagining others, and moving forward with projects that seemed to be trapped in pre-production limbo.

Falling into the latter category is The Flash, starring Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. The project has gone through many changes since it was announced as part of the DCEU in 2013 and planned to be released in 2016. The Flash then saw many writers and directors come and go before finally settling with Christina Hodson as screenwriter and Andy Muschietti as director in 2019. After many rumors about the story, it was confirmed that The Flash is influenced by fan-favorite comic book storyline Flashpoint, and so it will see Barry traveling in time to prevent his mother’s death, but messing with time always brings consequences, and his timeline won’t be the same after it.

Related: The Flash: What Makes Flashpoint Terrifying

To add to the excitement around The Flash, in June 2020 it was confirmed that Micheal Keaton will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman from Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, along with Ben Affleck who will return as the DCEU’s version of the Caped Crusader. Their return is possible thanks to the DCEU Multiverse, with The Flash exploring it further by treating past DC Comics movies as alternate universes from the DCEU. However, there has been a lot of emphasis on Keaton’s return, with Muschietti sharing images focused on his Batman logo, and the latest one is a mashup of Batman and Flash’s logos – and here’s what it could mean for the story.

The Flash/Batman Costume Mashup Could Hint At Keaton Becoming Flash

Ezra Miller as Barry Allen Flash and Michael Keaton as Batman

The aforementioned mashup shows Keaton’s Batman chest symbol spray-painted with the Flash’s colors and lightning bolt symbol, hinting at the possibility of Batman becoming Flash. Time travel has become an overused theme in movies, but it continues to be somewhat popular thanks to each one having its own rules, with some claiming that changing the past will affect the future while others have established that it doesn’t, and instead it creates a new timeline. In DC and the Flash’s case, Barry Allen’s journey to the past to save his mother has some big consequences in his present timeline, with characters like Cyborg becoming the world’s quintessential hero and Bruce Wayne being killed instead of his parents, with Thomas Wayne becoming Batman as a result and Martha going insane and becoming the Joker. Of course, not all of those changes fit the current DCEU timeline, and with the multiverse confirmed and already explored to an extent in the TV event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, Barry’s time travel will make way for the arrival of different versions of Batman.

Now, it’s unknown what Keaton’s Batman has gone through since the events of Batman Returns, and so he could have become a more ruthless vigilante constantly looking for revenge, and this could lead him to steal the Flash’s speed so he can “repair” some past events just like Barry attempted to. Batman stealing the Flash’s speed isn’t a new idea as it has already happened in the comics. In Batman: The Red Death, an evil version of Batman, who has seen various sidekicks die and thus has adopted more extreme methods while fighting crime, wants to obtain Speed Force powers but Flash refuses to give them to him. Batman then chains Flash to the hood of the Batmobile and drives into the Speed Force, which forcibly fuses them into one being, with Bruce gaining Flash’s powers and a corrupt connection to the Speed Force, while Barry’s consciousness is trapped in Bruce’s body. Of course, Batman becoming the Flash might not happen exactly that way as it doesn’t really fit the DCEU’s style, but it shows it can be possible and gives an idea of what could drive Batman to want the Flash’s powers.

The Flash/Batman Logo Might Mean Barry Allen Becomes Batman

Michael Keaton Batman bloody suit The flash

Conversely, it could be Barry Allen who takes over the role of Batman at some point in The Flash. It’s important to note that The Flash is not an adaptation of Flashpoint and is instead influenced by it, so many details from the comic books will be different. This, of course, makes way for different scenarios and stories, and so it could see Barry becoming Batman, though why and how are the biggest questions. Perhaps Keaton’s Batman won’t make it to the end of the movie alive, with Barry forced to take his place as Gotham’s vigilante to defeat whatever threat they face or this change of roles could be linked to Bruce gaining the Flash’s Speed Force. As mentioned above, while Bruce got Speed Force and became Red Death, Barry’s subconscious was trapped in Bruce’s body. Barry ultimately regained control and destroyed the Red Death, so The Flash could give this storyline a twist by having Batman taking over Flash’s speed while Barry becomes the Batman to stop the Caped Crusader from creating major chaos with his powers.

Related: Why The Flash Movie's First Shot Echoing Tim Burton's Batman Is So Important

The Flash/Batman Suit Mashup Suggests This Is A Stealth Batman Movie

Michael Keaton in Batman and Flash Movie Concept Art

The Flash will be Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen first solo adventure, but there might be a twist coming up that will have Barry not so alone after all. With two different versions of Batman showing up in The Flash and a lot of emphasis on Keaton’s return through images shared by Muschietti (the Batsuit’s chest symbol covered in drops of blood and the mashup with the Flash’s symbol), this could be pointing at The Flash being a stealth Batman movie. The logos of these two heroes made as one could be hinting at Keaton’s Batman and Miller’s Flash being the leads of The Flash rather than just Barry Allen, with the latter serving as a connecting link between this past Batman and the one he personally knows, which is Affleck’s version. Keaton’s story, then, could be parallel to that of Barry Allen rather than part of the story of Miller’s character, making The Flash a secret Batman movie, too.

There’s still a lot to learn about The Flash, its characters, plot, and more, and the level of secrecy around it, along with the characters it's bringing back and also introducing (as is the case of Sasha Calle’s Supergirl), all point at Muschietti and company preparing a lot of surprises for DC fans. All this emphasis on the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman hint at him being key in Barry Allen’s story, and as seen above, there are many ways in which he can influence it and even merge with it, and it’s only a matter of waiting for more details to be revealed.

Next: What The Flash Movie's DC Characters Reveal About The Story

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