DC Studios is in a transitional period right now. The DCEU—built around Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and the near-decade of films that followed it—is over, and co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced a whole new slate of movies and television shows (dubbed the ‘DCU’)to usher in a new era of comic book adaptations.
Still, we’re not sure what that means for the characters of the DCEU who still have films slated for release. There’s no clear answer on how the DCEU will definitively end, and if that means the end of the characters DC Studios has spent substantial time and money building up. While we know, say, Henry Cavill is not going to return as Superman any time soon (much to Black Adam‘s dismay), Aquaman still has another film set to release in December, and Blue Beetle is set to make its film debut (although it appears to be separate from the DCEU). Will they get a simple send-off, or will they survive the shift into the new DC cinematic universe, welcoming in new characters and new storylines?
It’s the question many had for The Flash, one of the few films left in the DCEU’s remaining slate. After facing filming delays (and significant controversy involving its star), The Flash has finally hit theaters. Like every other superhero film these days, there is, of course, a post-credits scene, along with cameos and callbacks. DC knows what its fans want. So it’s safe to say there’s little ambiguity in how the movie ends, and what it means for this current rendition of Flash. If DC plans to have more of Ezra Miller’s take on the speedy superhero, we’ll likely hear about it soon.
Here’s what we know about a potential sequel for The Flash, based on how the film ends.
Will The Flash have a sequel?
Probably not. The Flash ends with Barry outside his original timeline, in a parallel universe where (spoiler!) George Clooney is Bruce Wayne/Batman, in a callback to George Clooney’s stint as the masked crusader in 1999’s campy Batman & Robin.
Ezra Miller in The Flash.
The film doesn’t set up any new villains or conflicts, and appears to end with Barry realizing the situation he’s in, but with no urge to change it, considering the entire film is about how changing the past can irrevocably impact the world around him. It looks like, officially, the Barry we know is stuck in a different universe, and he won’t be coming back. Unless if for some reason we continue in the Batman & Robin universe? Except it’s not quite as colorful as the late director Joel Schumacher made it in that film.
Which is to say… The Flash is probably the last we’ll see of Ezra Miller’s Barry. If there were to be a sequel, there’d have to be an explanation for how he got back to the Ben Affleck/Henry Cavill/Gal Gadot timeline, or how he switched to whatever timeline James Gunn’s new DC Batman and Superman are in.
But also… why is Aquaman still Jason Momoa, but Batman has morphed into either George Clooney or Michael Keaton, depending on the timeline changes? Guess we’ll never know.
The Flash director Andy Muschietti will return to Batman soon, though, with The Brave and the Bold.
While there’s no indication or certainty of any sort that we’ll ever see Ezra Miller’s Flash again, we know now that one part of The Flash will remain a key piece of James Gunn’s DCU going forward: director Andy Muschietti, who Variety reported was tapped as director of the upcoming Batman film The Brave and the Bold.
Gunn has detailed that The Brave and the Bold will begin to tell the story of the Bat-family, with Bruce Wayne/Batman joined by a version of Robin with his murderous son, Damien Wayne, taking up the mantle. This arc will be largely inspired by writer Grant Morrison’s Batman comics.
This will be separate from the Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson Batman movies as well, which are part of what’s being referred to as DC Elseworlds. The Batman has a sequel that’s currently scheduled for October 2025 and its spinoff series, the Max original The Penguin starring Colin Farrell, was in production until it was halted due to the ongoing WGA strike.
While the details for The Brave and the Bold are scarce, it’s clear now that The Flash served as something of Muschietti’s audition to helm a true Batman-centric project; he crafted significant sequences for Batman characters played by both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton in The Flash.
Milan Polk is an Editorial Assistant for Men’s Health who specializes in entertainment and lifestyle reporting, and has worked for New York Magazine’s Vulture and Chicago Tribune.
Comments are closed.