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Jun 07, 2023

Every Canceled DC Movie The Flash Was Supposed To Set Up

Several canceled DC movies and scrapped plans were directly tied to The Flash, which went through many changes during its decade-long development. The Flash was supposed to be a game-changing movie

Several canceled DC movies and scrapped plans were directly tied to The Flash, which went through many changes during its decade-long development.

The Flash was supposed to be a game-changing movie for the DCEU, and many canceled DC movies were directly tied to the multiverse epic. Originally announced as part of the first DCEU movie slate, The Flash went through several changes as a project and had multiple directors attached to it. At the same time, the DCEU as a franchise went through significant changes as well, which is why so many announced or rumored DC movie projects never came to fruition. The Flash grossed $269 million worldwide on a reported budget of $200 million, making it a disastrous box office flop.

The Warner Bros. Discovery merger followed by the creation of DC Studios were the most recent changes regarding DC’s cinematic future. With a new DC Universe set to begin with Gunn’s Superman: Legacy (2025), much of what The Flash was supposed to set up will not lead anywhere. Reportedly, The Flash had three different endings, two of which would have set up a very different DCEU. The Flash’s actual ending avoided the issue with Black Adam’s post-credits scene, which promised a Superman vs. Black Adam fight that will never happen. Here is every DC movie The Flash could have led to.

As one of the founding members of the Justice League, the Flash was supposed to be one of the pillars of the DCEU. Therefore, as with any blockbuster superhero film, The Flash would have led to a sequel had it succeeded at the box office. Before James Gunn and Peter Safran announced their plans for the new DC Universe, it seemed only natural that The Flash would be the first in a series of Flash movies. This would be similar to how Wonder Woman (2017)’s success led to Wonder Woman 1984, or how Aquaman’s billion-dollar box office led to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

However, even without considering the new DC Universe, The Flash’s box office bomb means that The Flash 2 will not happen. Had The Flash performed well, it would have been interesting to see how a potential sequel would have fit into the new DC Universe. It is still unclear whether Ezra Miller will return as Barry Allen in the new DC Universe, which is introducing new versions of major heroes like Superman and Batman. Curiously, Blue Beetle, which features the first DCU character Jaime Reyes, namedrops Central City and the Flash. Regardless, The Flash 2 is not happening, neither as a standalone film nor in the DCU.

According to long-time DC artist Jay Oliva, who directed Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and worked on storyboards for some of the DCEU films, there were plans for a Flashpoint DCEU movie. The film would have been the third and final entry in a Flash trilogy, which would have started with Rick Famiyuwa's The Flash. Famiyuwa's version of The Flash was not Flashpoint and would not have dealt with the multiverse. However, according to Oliva, the Reverse Flash was going to be the mastermind behind the events of the film. Not only that but the Reverse Flash would later be revealed as the overarching villain of the entire DCEU.

The Snyderverse’s Flash trilogy would have tied into Snyder’s planned Justice League sequels, with the third movie acting as a reboot of the DCEU. Snyder’s Justice League 3 would have seen Batman sacrificing himself to stop Darkseid, similar to DC Comics’ Final Crisis. With Superman’s story concluded and Batman dead, Snyder’s Justice League saga would have been over. Flashpoint, which would have been the third The Flash movie, would then reboot the franchise, similar to how it played out in the comics. Although The Flash (2023) was inspired by Flashpoint, the film was not a direct adaptation of the comic book.

The Flash introduced Sasha Calle’s Supergirl in what was the first cinematic version of the character since the 1984 Supergirl movie. The Flash had three different endings, two of which saw Kara Zor-El integrated into the main DCEU timeline after the events of the film. Instead of encountering George Clooney’s Batman in this rebooted universe, Barry Allen would have reunited with Sasha Calle’s Supergirl and Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne. This would have opened the door for The Flash’s Kara Zor-El to become the DCEU’s Supergirl. Instead, both Supergirl and Batman died in the “Flashpoint universe,” and neither of them returned at the end.

Had The Flash performed well at the box office, a solo Supergirl movie centered on Sasha Calle’s version of the character would likely have joined other planned or rumored DCEU projects, such as Batman Beyond with Michael Keaton. A Supergirl movie, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, is currently in the works for DC Studios’ new DC Universe. Not much is known about Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, except that is inspired by the Tom King comic book series of the same name. The DC Universe’s Supergirl movie will take place in the same continuity as James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, and it is unclear whether Sasha Calle will play the titular character.

According to Kevin Smith (via FatMan Beyond), a Batman Beyond movie starring Michael Keaton was being considered if The Flash turned out to be a box office success. Reportedly, The Flash’s opening weekend would have to at least match The Batman’s, which did not happen. The Flash’s disastrous box office performance has made a Michael Keaton Batman spinoff virtually impossible, especially now that a new Batman will be introduced in The Brave and the Bold. The Flash’s original ending would have brought Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne into the DCEU, whereas the film’s actual ending was more of a comedic sequence with George Clooney as Batman.

The idea of having Michael Keaton, the first modern Batman movie actor, return in a Batman Beyond-inspired film had been popular even before The Flash revisited the character. A Batman Beyond movie starring Michael Keaton as an older Bruce Wayne could have even worked as a standalone film not tied to the DCEU, as Terry McGinnis has always existed in his own corner of the DC Universe. Still, in a scenario where The Flash’s original ending was kept and the film performed well, Keaton would have become the DCEU’s Batman. This is why Keaton originally had a cameo in Aquaman 2 and appeared in the canceled Batgirl film.

The DCEU’s Batgirl movie, which was surprisingly canceled for a tax write-off after filming had already wrapped, would have built up from The Flash’s ending. Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon would have been the daughter of J.K. Simmons’ Commissioner Gordon, meaning that Batgirl was set in the DCEU. J.K. Simmons’ Gordon originally appeared in Justice League, where he interacted with Ben Affleck’s Batman. However, Affleck was never in the Batgirl movie. Instead, Michael Keaton was the one playing the caped crusader in the now-canceled Batgirl film. After The Flash’s original ending, Keaton would have become the DCEU’s Batman, replacing Affleck in a new timeline.

Related: DC Wasted 31 Years, 3 Movies & $500M Just To Insult Michael Keaton's Batman

That is why Keaton’s Batman would now exist in the same continuity as J.K. Simmons’ Gordon and vice versa. While confusing at first, this would have been a direct continuation of The Flash, which would have partially rebooted the DCEU. In other words, Batgirl’s story would only work if The Flash ended with Keaton’s Bruce Wayne joining the DCEU’s main timeline. The cancelation of Batgirl was disappointing by itself, and it showed that Keaton’s DCEU future was now up in the air. Following Batgirl’s cancelation and The Flash’s failure, Michael Keaton’s Batman is currently not set to return in any DC movie.

There were at least two scenarios in which The Flash would have led to another Justice League movie. In the Snyderverse, the first Justice League movie was supposed to be one of three films that would have concluded Zack Snyder’s five-part arc. Snyder’s plans for the DCEU included Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and two other Justice League sequels. Per the very first DCEU slate, Justice League 2 would have come out after The Flash. As revealed by Jay Oliva, Rick Famuyiwa’s The Flash would have tied into the broader DCEU through Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash.

Before DC Studios announced the new DC Universe, any chances of another Justice League movie would depend on The Flash performing well at the box office. The future of several Justice League characters, including Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman, had become uncertain after the 2017 film. The Flash’s original ending would have soft-rebooted the DCEU, likely setting up a different iteration of the Justice League for future projects. For example, Michael Keaton’s Batman was set to be the DCEU’s answer to Nick Fury – a character that would show up in multiple projects to create a sense of interconnectivity.

Before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, DC Films was reportedly planning a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie. The film would have built up from The Flash’s multiverse story, and multiple DCEU characters would have been expected to appear. DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths movie seemingly never entered development, but it would have served as an in-universe reboot of what had become a convoluted franchise. This might have tied into the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, which featured a crossover between Ezra Miller’s Flash and Grant Gustin’s Flash. Shortly after the crossover episode aired, then-DC Films President Walter Hamada discussed the multiverse concept on a DC FanDome 2020 panel.

Following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the creation of DC Studios, any plans for a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie spinning off of The Flash would no longer move forward. Recently, Warner Bros. Animation announced a DC Crisis on Infinite Earths animated movie set in the “Tomorrowverse.” While not much is known about the Tomorrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, the movie is not tied to either DC Studios’ new DC Universe or the scrapped Crisis on Infinite Earths live-action project.