Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Flash
The Flash is one of the most-anticipated superhero movies of the year, not only because it was almost a decade in the making but also due to Ezra Miller’s Multiverse adventure supposedly pressing the reset button to make way for the new DCU. However, by the time the credits roll in The Flash, we still have many questions about how the movie will set up the new DCU. And since The Flash utterly misses the mark when it comes to delivering a coherent time-traveling story, the film only makes the transition to the new DCU more muddled.
The Flash introduces a brand-new time-traveling theory through which any intervention in the past completely alters the course of history, both after and before the changed event. So, while the MCU Multiverse imagines that new branches of time are created with each change, in The Flash, time-traveling is even more dangerous because it can fundamentally modify the essence of entire universes, even altering how key characters look and when they were born. That’s why, by saving his mother from a gruesome death, Barry creates a universe where Bruce Wayne was born many years before the version of Batman the Scarlet Speedster knows.
To be fair, the spaghetti theory is an intriguing approach to time-traveling that frees writers and producers from reimagining the rules governing alternate timelines. But in The Flash case, the movie never truly uses the theory and quickly falls back into the contradictions of closed time-loops. Yes, it’s a mess, so it’s best just to turn off your brain and enjoy the flashing light on the silver screen. Still, the spaghetti theory of time-traveling jumpstarts DC’s Multiverse and gives James Gunn and Peter Safran the safety net they need to tell a new story, while not immediately throwing fan-favorite characters and movies in the trashcan. Furthermore, by cooking pasta in such a chaotic way, The Flash can make older DC productions canon through clever cameos. However, the ending of The Flash only makes things more confusing, as the movie might be teasing two completely different ways to reset the DC universe.
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The New DCU Could Change Very Little after ‘The Flash’
At the end of The Flash, Barry learns that every action has a consequence and decides to undo what he changed in the past and accept his mother being murdered is best for his universe. It’s an odd ending that goes against the spaghetti logic since, by changing the timeline, Barry theoretically created new universes, and it’s hard to imagine how to further intervention from the hero would un-created all these alternate timelines. Things get messier when, despite the lessons he learned along the way, Barry still decides to make another change to the past to release his father from jail. Shockingly, this intervention from Barry seemingly changes a single thing in the world: Ben Affleck’s Batman is no more, and in his place, we get George Clooney’s Dark Knight.
Sure, more things could have been changed in the current timeline than what they show on the screen. However, since the end-credits scene features Barry having a drink with Jason Momoa’s Aquaman to discuss his multiverse adventures, it’s fair to assume Barry is still in touch with the Justice League and knows that everyone remains the same apart from the World’s Greatest Detective.
That opens many questions about how the Multiverse works in the new DCU. Above everything else, if the Multiverse is created by messing with time travel, as Michael Keaton explained with pasta in the kitchen of the Wayne Mansion, did Barry erase the Multiverse when he fixed the timeline? And if that’s the case, does the ending of The Flash takes place in the reset timeline that’ll be used for the new DCU? If that’s the case, instead of a clean slate, DC Studios has many plot holes to deal with. And more importantly, despite all the controversy surrounding Miller, the star remains the official Flash in the new DCU. Moreover, Clooney would be the official Batman in The Brave and the Bold. That would explain why The Flash director Andy Muschietti was chosen to helm the upcoming Bat-adventure.
There’s little arguing that this would be an extremely muddy path. The idea of the new DCU is to create a storyline that connects multiple movies and TV shows coherently, so there’s no reason to carry so much baggage while moving forward. Fortunately, there’s also some evidence DC Studios will take a different route. That’s because Gunn and Safran already implied they would choose a new star to play Batman in the new DCU. So, the Clooney timeline might be left behind after all.
‘The Flash’ Allows the New DCU To Be a Wholly New Universe
If we put aside the many plotholes of The Flash and strip the movie to its basic concepts, we can envision a better way for the new DCU to thrive. The Flash introduces the idea that multiple universes exist. Nevertheless, key moments happen in every timeline because they define reality. That’s why, regardless of when Bruce Wayne was born, his parents died, and he becomes Batman in every universe. It’s similar to the canon events introduced by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, or the Absolute Points of Marvel Studios’ What If…?
The idea of critical moments echoing through the Multiverse allows DC Studios to clean the slate and cherry-pick whatever they want to keep. The new DCU can occur in its own timeline, separated from everything that came before. Still, Gunn and Safran would have the perfect excuse to say the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker happened in both universes, as they were key for these different realities. By allowing the new DCU to have a timeline of its own, Gunn and Safran can also eliminate the many contradictions introduced in previous DC movies while still reusing some stars to replay their characters in the new storyline. In addition, Gunn and Safran can move forward without worrying about origin stories, as they can simply say that the facts we all know about DC's main heroes are key events in every reality, which is why they remain the same.
DC Studios still hasn’t explained how it will move forward with the new DCU and get rid of what came before. And to be honest, with two new DC movies scheduled for theatrical release later this year, chances are Gunn and Safran will remain quiet about the whole affair since any definitive response could harm the box office of Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Still, as convoluted as The Flash’s time-traveling might be, the movie offers the perfect template for the new DCU to succeed. Let’s hope they make the right choice.
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