Why The Flash Goes To The Michael Keaton Batman Timeline

With the voice of a very particular Bruce Wayne being heard in The Flash‘s newest teaser, it is more than confirmed that DCEU’s Barry Allen will be visiting Michael Keaton’s Batman universe. DC Films’ 2022 movie slate trailer has offered a new look at The Batman, Black Adam, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the highly anticipated first live-action Flash movie. The Flash is set to be released on November 4, 2022, and will bring Ezra Miller back in the role of DC’s most famous speedster.

After being introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and being a member of Justice League, Ezra Miller’s Flash is finally getting his own movie. The film written by Christina Hodson and directed by Andy Muschietti is expected to be the DCEU’s first step towards the vast DC Multiverse and will feature some well-known faces as well as new heroes. In addition to Ben Affleck’s Batman, The Flash will see the debut of Sasha Calle as Supergirl and the return of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne 20 years after the last of Burton’s Batman films.

The presence of the DCEU’s Flash in Michael Keaton’s Batman universe can be explained by Barry Allen’s enormous yet chaotic powers. While a future version of The Flash had gone back in time in Batman v Superman: Dawn Justice and Zack Snyder’s version of Justice League showed the character reversing the final moments of the film, the DCEU’s Barry Allen is still essentially a rookie when it comes to the speed force. It is likely that, in a desperate attempt to prevent his mother’s death, Barry Allen ended up being mistakenly transported to an entirely different universe—in this case, an Earth where Batman is a veteran hero who has been protecting Gotham City since 1989.

Moving Barry to another corner of the DC Multiverse rather than just placing the hero in a slightly changed timeline would be an interesting spin on the already iconic but weathered Flashpoint plotline. In the comic book saga that served as a general reboot for DC Comics, Flash’s careless use of his powers ended up creating a timeline in which a war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman was close to destroying the entire planet. While a full Flashpoint adaptation could offer some interesting moments, a Flash trip from the DCEU to the “Burtonverse” could also deliver a great story.

The details on how the speed force will find Keaton’s Batman universe will be revealed when The Flash hits theaters in November 2022. By changing what audiences might already think they know about the Flashpoint storyline,  The Flash has become way more unpredictable. That considered, it is certain that two very different realities will collide when Ezra Miller’s Flash and Michael Keaton’s Batman finally meet.

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Marcelo Leite
(184 Articles Published)

Marcelo Leite is a senior writer for Screen Rant with years of experience in creative and academic writing. Although his chosen field was structure engineering, there is nothing he likes better than writing about the things he loves.

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