The Flash won its first full preview during the last edition of the Super Bowl, and reached the mark of the most viewed trailer of the event. The film, filled with controversy around actor Ezra Miller, promises to be a reboot for the DC universe, now commanded by James Gunn.
In addition to a great trailer, fans are very curious about the Scarlet Speedster movie because this project is an adaptation of one of the best hero arcs in the comics: Flashpoint, or Ignition Point. Next, the My Series explains what this saga is all about, and how the film will draw inspiration from the events to reset DC.
Back to the future
Flashpoint was released in 2011 and featured the iconic Geoff Johns in writing and art by Andy Kupert. In 2013, the success of the comic was so great that spawned an animation of the same name, but with some plot changes. The story begins quite simply, showing Barry Allen waking up in the office of the police station where he works.
What seemed like a normal day turned into a nightmare when Barry discovered that he somehow couldn’t use his powers anymore, and he wasn’t even wearing his hero costume. However, to his surprise, the character ends up bumping into his mother, who in a normal situation should be dead.
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Barry begins to realize that everything in the world is different. The character is without powers, with his mother alive, and discovers that a world war is going on between the kingdom of Atlantis and the Amazons, caused after Wonder Woman killed Mera, Aquaman’s wife. In addition, the Justice League does not seem to exist, and there is no information about any being similar to Superman; giving Cyborg the title of Earth’s greatest superhero.
Flash decides to talk to the smartest man he knows, and leaves for Gotham City to look for Batman. Arriving at Wayne Manor, Allen realizes that the Batman of that reality is not your friend, but Thomas Wayne, father of Bruce. In that world, Bruce ended up getting shot by the mugger in the alley, causing his father to assume the mantle of the Dark Knight; while her mother transformed into her own version of the Joker.
To regain his powers, Barry enlists Thomas’s help to recreate the conditions of the accident that turned him into the Flash, until he regains his abilities. Batman calls Cyborg, and the trio break into a secret military facility. There, they discover that the ship of the Superman never fell in Kansasbut in Metropolis, and Kal-El was kept in confinement, becoming a scared and fragile manbut who runs away when he absorbs part of his powers.
dc comics Finally, the war between Atlantis and the Amazons reaches the country, forcing Flash, Batman, Cyborg and Shazam to unite with other resistance heroes to defeat both sides. During the battle, Eobard Thawne’s Reverse-Flash appears and reveals that the Flash himself was responsible for all this mess in the timeline, resulting in one of the best dialogues in the comics. In the normal timeline, Flash went to the past in order to prevent his mother, Nora Allen, from being murdered by Eobard.but this ended up triggering catastrophic effects for the world.
dc comics Batman manages to injure Thawne, and asks Barry to use the Speed Force to return to the past so drastically, that it would prevent his old self from saving his mother, and fixing the timeline. Flash manages to accelerate so quickly, that he stops his own version, and stabilizes that universe. Thus, Flashpoint came to an end, and that same year, 2011, DC Comics would win the new 52a reboot for all of the publisher’s comics.
And in the movie?
As the trailer has already revealed, The Flash will adapt Flashpoint in concept, but not literally, not least because this DC movie universe is not as big as in the comics, and many elements must be left out.
It has already been confirmed that Ezra Miller will play two versions of himself, possibly the version from the “normal” timeline and another from the affected timeline. The difference is that the trailer uses the word universe all the time, implying that Barry, in an attempt to go back in time, actually ends up in another different universe, and not in the same reality.
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That makes Batman a familiar hero, bringing in actor Michael Keaton to reprise the role, but Ben Affleck’s Bat will also be present. In addition, unlike the war between Arthur and Diana, the main conflict will be the invasion of General Zod (Michael Shannon), as in Man of Steel.
Superman, on the other hand, will not be in the feature, being replaced by his cousin, Supergirl. The Kryptonian fell with her ship somewhere in Russia, and was kept in a secret prison, not knowing that she had powers, until Flash and Keaton’s Batman must rescue the heroine played by Sasha Calle.
It is not yet known if the Reverse Flash will be in the plot, but theories indicate that the own alternate Barry Allen will be the villain. With the end of the film, The Flash must do as in the comics, and by returning to its timeline, it will end up rebooting the entire DC universe that began in Man of Steel, and will start the Gods and Monsters chapter, recently announced by James Gunn .
