The Flash movie being pushed back to 2023 leaves the current DCEU schedule open to a potential multiverse problem. Originally set to open way back in 2018, Ezra Miller's The Flash movie has been subjected to multiple delays over its long road to the big screen. The movie had seemed to have finally found its stride when Michael Keaton came onboard to reprise his role as Batman. However, this latest delay has a knock-on effect for another DCEU entry that if left unchanged will create a timeline problem.
The Flash movie will see Barry Allen traveling through time and across the multiverse to prevent his mother's murder, but this action ends up having unintended consequences for the wider DCEU. Ben Affleck will make his last appearance as Batman in The Flash, with Keaton suiting up once again as The Dark Knight. Keaton's return as Batman going forward will be as a mentor to the new Bat person, which will be Leslie Grace's Barbara Gordon. She'll make her debut in Batgirl, which is currently scheduled for release at the end of 2022.
The Flash movie delay from November 4, 2022, to June 23, 2023, which brings with it a major timeline problem for the multiverse. Batgirl is supposed to take place after The Flash but has not yet moved its release date to follow suit. Sticking with its current 2022 date would throw the DCEU's timeline and the multiverse out of whack. Batgirl will see the return of JK Simmon's Commissioner James Gordon after appearing in both versions of Justice League, and Batgirl is his daughter. As Commissioner Gordon has a history with Afleck's Batman it wouldn't make any sense from a story perspective for him to suddenly be interacting with Keaton's Batman.
Though both The Flash and Batgirl are part of the DCEU, Batgirl is releasing exclusively on HBO Max, whereas The Flash is a theatrical release. HBO Max is under a separate part of the corporate umbrella to the DCEU movies at Warner Bros., with different control mechanisms and executives in place. The streaming service is struggling to catch up with Netflix and Disney+, and original content is crucial to its success. Batgirl was no doubt going to be the service's big winter release, which it would be reluctant to lose. DCEU movies can change their release dates without too many issues, with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods all moving along with The Flash. HBO Max though doesn't appear to have another big event movie to replace Batgirl with that would be ready in time. While Blue Beetle was going to be another HBO Max exclusive DCEU movie it's since been given a theatrical release, throwing another spanner in the works.
The success of Robert Pattinson's The Batman has shown that DC movies don't have to be all connected to be a success. However, when the narrative is so intrinsically linked, the knock-on effects to the DCEUs multiverse aren't worth it just to keep Batgirl's HBO Max’s 2022 release date. Fans will undoubtedly be hoping that the powers that be end up reaching this conclusion and decide that it’s in the best interests of the DCEU's overall story to release Batgirl after The Flash.
