Barry Allen looks to be going back to his hometown as a new The Flash movie set photo teases the major comic book location Central City's inclusion. The next installment in the DC Universe will see Ezra Miller's titular hero racing back in time in the hopes of preventing his mother's murder to free his father from prison, only for his tampering with the past to inflict major unforeseen consequences on his timeline. Though The Flash movie is expected to see Barry travel through the multiverse and meet a variety of heroes along the way, but even as he ventures through alternate realities, there is one familiar place he will be revisiting in his adventure.
As audiences continue to wait a proper trailer for the film, Andy Muschietti took to Instagram to share a new The Flash movie set photo. The image shared by the director shows him holding a blackened version of the Scarlet Speedster's emblem in his hand, with the caption confirming the setting to be that of Central City, the hometown of its titular hero, at midnight. Check out the set photo below:
The Flash Movie's Comic Connections Explained
The inclusion of Central City in The Flash movie may not be considered much of a surprise to those familiar with the character's comic book history, as he is generally seen as the protector of the metropolitan area. It was even previously seen in both the theatrical version of Justice League and the later-released Zack Snyder's Justice League, with Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne heading to Central City to recruit Miller's Barry in the fight against Steppenwolf. The sequences set in the area also introduced Barry's love interest, Kiersey Clemons' Iris West, and his incarcerated father, Henry Allen, while also being seen near the end of the film as he lands a job with the Central City Police Department as a forensic scientist, partially in the hopes of being able to free his father.
Those familiar with the comics will also know that Central City is the home to one branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, where Barry would get a handle on his powers, and was a location frequently featured in The Flash TV show as the character's base of operations. Considering S.T.A.R. Labs was previously introduced in both Justice League and Zack Snyder's Justice League as where Joe Morton's Silas Stone works and transformed his son Victor into the hero known as Cyborg, played by Ray Fisher, it would be interesting to see the corporation expanded upon in The Flash movie. While the film is primarily expected to be a multiversal adventure, some DC fans have been theorizing that former Vine star Rudy Mancuso could be playing the DCU's version of Cisco Ramon, taking a page out of the Arrowverse's book by making him a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs before becoming the hero known as Vibe.
Even outside of Central City, The Flash movie is set to feature a number of major comic book connections, primarily that of its plot borrowing inspiration from the comic storyline Flashpoint, in which Barry attempted to prevent his mother's murder and essentially rebooted the entire timeline. With the sole Flash trailer released thus far also teasing multiple Barrys in the film, some have expressed hope to see a closer adaptation of the comic character's personality than the one seen in both versions of Justice League, which comic book fans closer associated with that of Wally West than Barry. Only time will tell what other comic book connections are in store for audiences when The Flash hits theaters on June 16.
Source: Andy Muschietti/Instagram
