Flashpointby critically acclaimed writer Geoff Johns was one of the most pivotal events in DC Comics history. It featured time travel, alternate realities, and versions of characters like Batman and Superman that readership was not used to.
InFlashpoint, the Flash travels back in time using the Speed Force to try to prevent his mother’s murder. In the process, the Flash alters reality so severely that he loses his powers and no one remembers there ever being a Flash superhero in Center City. The comic book event features most of DC’s A-list superheroes, albeit often utilizing motives and actions vastly different from the characters’ ‘normal’ selves.
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By the end of the event, the Flash is able to restore reality back to normal. This displays the Flash’s heroism, because he knows he cannot both keep his mother alive and have a properly functioning universe.Flashpointdrastically changed DC comicsin many ways. It ushered in the start of a new era called The New 52, where DC would publish 52 serialized comics on a regular basis for several years. This also led to a bold, darker direction for DC Comics. 2022’sThe Flashis set to be loosely based on the DC Comics Flashpoint event. Will it have the same impact and rebooting effect that readership experienced in DC comics pages?
Rebooting a Shared Universe
At the time Geoff Johns was writingFlashpoint, DC Comics was in a fairly stable place. Superstar writer Grant Morrison was writingBatman, Johns was writingGreen Lantern, andChristopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight Trilogyhad yet to conclude on the silver screen.
Even so, the powers that were at DC Comics decided to fully reboot their comic book universe. When the Flash eventually set events back to their proper time and place at the end ofFlashpoint, the universe essentially ‘rebooted.’ The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow – virtually every superhero that one can name from DC Comics’ catalog earned their own ongoing published story.
To this point, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has been an extremely mixed bag in terms of on-screen offerings. Ever since it began withMan of Steelin 2013, it has had a somewhat sour reaction from die-hard DC Comics fans and critics alike. There is a very good chance that DC and Warner Brothers will decide to reboot the DCEU withThe Flashjust likeFlashpointrebooted DC Comics’ ongoing stories.
A Change in Tone
TheFlashpointevent was a very dark undertaking for DC Comics. It featured a version of Batman who outright murdered criminals and had Aquaman and Wonder Woman at war with each other over control of the Earth. In turn, The New 52 was a very dark series of books, even for ‘brighter’ characters like the Flash and Wonder Woman.
However, the DCEU has already been a very dark, interwoven film universe. Both Superman and Batman kill in the DCEU’s first two films:Man of SteelandBatman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, respectively. This is very out of sorts compared to how the two superheroes deal with supervillains and criminals in their comic titles.
PerhapsThe Flashwill do the opposite of whatFlashpointdid andmake the shared universe a little bit brighter. It might be a welcome change for those who are tired of naval-gazing, brooding superheroes who use their fists more than their minds.
A Host of New Titles and Characters
TheNew 52did not necessarily create new characters for its 52 ongoing series. However, it did introduce new characters and entities like the Batman rogues The Court of Owls.
Introducing characters on screen that the general public has never seen before in live action would be a fantastic angle for Warner Brothers to play with following the events ofThe Flash. Audiences have seen the Joker and Lex Luthor enough times by now, but introducing them to Godspeed andthe various Lantern Corpswould make for wonderful entertainment.
FlashpointBrought the Multiverse into the Fold
Flashpointaltered everything folks thought they knew about the space-time continuum. With the Flash altering time to save his dear mother, he utterly changed his universe. A universe where Thomas Wayne, not Bruce Wayne, was Batman. Where Martha Wayne became the Joker. Where Superman was housed as a government experiment. So on and so forth.
Since the birth of the DCEU, there have been solo DC films that have existed outside of the interconnected universe.Films like 2019’sJokerand the upcoming movieThe Batmanare such cases. Both movies are critically acclaimed and were/are highly anticipated projects. Being able to potentially bring Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Robert Pattinson’s Batman into the same world as the Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and others would make for a shared universe that could potentially compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The Flashis scheduled to come out in theaters on November 4th, 2022.
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