The Flash movie won't be a true Flashpoint adaptation, and that's good news for both the scarlet speedster and the DCEU. After years in the making and successive changes in the release date, The Flash is currently slated for June 2023. The Flash will be directed by Andy Muschietti and will bring Ezra Miller back in the role of DCEU’s Barry Allen.
The Flash will have the difficult mission of telling a solo Flash story while also setting the stage for what the DCEU will be going forward. After the failure of Justice League and the uncertainty about the future of the franchise, everything indicates that The Flash and its multiverse will be what will reshape the DCEU canon. For that reason, many are associating The Flash movie with the famous Flashpoint storyline from the comics.
Released in 2011 in five issues, Flashpoint was the way that DC Comics had found to kick-start a full reboot of its universe. The New 52 as it would be known as a direct consequence of Flashpoint and marked the story as one of the most important events in DC Comics history alongside titles such as Crisis on Infinite Earths and Final Crisis. While essentially a Flash story, Flashpoint involved several DC characters as well as alternate versions of them. That scope is one of the reasons why Flashpoint is known even by those who are not too familiar with the comics and has already become a reference when it comes to Flash stories.
How Similar The Flash Movie Is To Flashpoint
All the teasers already released for The Flash suggest that the character will use his ability to travel through time. More than that, the fact that Michael Keaton's Batman will be in The Flash confirms that The Flash will be dealing with different realities and elements like the Speed Force. Finally, the scene in one of the teasers that shows Barry's mother possibly moments before being murdered ends up making The Flash movie have a lot in common with Flashpoint.
The fact that Barry will most likely travel back in time to revisit and try to stop his mother's death is something audiences link directly to Flashpoint. While the dangers of the Speed Force and time travel have always been part of the stories of every Flash in the comics, it was in the 2011 saga that Barry Allen’s selfish use of his powers had the greatest consequence. For that reason, every Flash story for the past ten years that involves the idea of Barry traveling through time to prevent his mother's death ends up sharing a lot with Flashpoint. The similarities between The Flash movie and Flashpoint, however, seem to end there.
Why The Flash Movie Is Not A Flashpoint Adaptation
Flash going back in time to fix something only to end up causing more problems alone isn’t enough to set up The Flash as a true Flashpoint adaptation. Other many important elements from the comics’ storyline will not be part of the film, either because of not being possible due to the current status of the DCEU or simply because of a creative decision. Despite sharing the same initial premise, The Flash movie and Flashpoint will be two completely different stories.
A true adaptation of Flashpoint would require the participation of all of the Justice League members in roles bigger than just cameos. If names like Henry Cavill's Superman, Jason Momoa's Aquaman, and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman were going to have co-lead roles in The Flash film, that likely would have already been announced. Also, one of the main elements of Flashpoint is the idea that it was the Reverse-Flash who had killed Barry's mother. Even so, no casting for The Flash's arch-nemesis was announced or even speculated during the production of The Flash. Other elements like a dystopian reality, Thomas Wayne as Batman, and Martha Wayne as Joker will also not be part of the film.
Another main difference between Flashpoint and The Flash movie is that the latter will tackle the Multiverse. While the ideas of alternate timelines and parallel reality have always been mixed up in the comics, The Flash movie will lean more towards the idea of The Flash transporting himself to another universe — in this case, Michael Keaton's Batman universe — than necessarily creating a new timeline. The film is also expected to revisit other moments in the DCEU's timeline, something that would separate Flash even further from Flashpoint.
Why It’s A Good Thing That The Flash Is Not A Flashpoint Adaption
While Flashpoint is one of the most important stories for The Flash and DC Comics in general from this century, its concept has already been somewhat overused. In addition to the consequences for the DC universe in the comics that are felt to this day, Flashpoint has already received a relatively faithful adaptation in the critically acclaimed animated film The Flashpoint Paradox, and it was used as a concept for several arcs of CW's The Flash with consequences for the Arrowverse. Granted, there hasn't been a completely faithful live-action version of Flashpoint yet, but a one-on-one adaptation of a storyline from the comics isn't always the best call.
Flashpoint made sense in the context of what DC Comics needed in the time leading up to its 2012 reboot. The DCEU's current canon status, meanwhile, has other limitations and needs. Trying to fit in all the elements of Flashpoint such as the war between Atlanteans and Amazons and the whole story between Flash and Reverse-Flash just for the sake of it could be the wrong choice. A true adaptation of Flashpoint would pretty much change The Flash into a Justice League movie, something that would be damaging to the character considering this will be the first solo Flash movie. Choosing to just take inspiration from Flashpoint to build something different is also exactly what will enable The Flash movie to make movies like bringing Michael Keaton's Batman to the DCEU, incorporating the best aspects of the preexisting work and combining it with new elements that are sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
