The Flash's 'Restart Everything, Forget Nothing' Approach Began With Wonder Woman - CBR - Comic Book Resources

At the most recent DC FanDome event, The Flash producer Barbara Muschietti spoke about the upcoming solo film, which will reportedly tell a version of the Flashpoint storyline from the comics. According to Muschietti, The Flash will both restart the DC Extended Universe and remember everything that came before it.

This development is something that most fans of the comics already surmised, knowing how the events of Flashpoint playout, but it's also not anything new for the DCEU. In fact, Warner Bros. has been trying this very strategy since the release of 2017's Wonder Woman.

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From the start, it was clear Warner Bros. wanted to make all fans happy -- a goal that was necessary considering the often contentious relationship between fans who disliked Zack Snyder's DCEU movies and those who found his take rather engaging. However, after lackluster performances from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the studios reversed course with two of its next films --Wonder Woman and Aquaman -- and achieved massive success.

The big change in strategy was that Warner Bros. chose to use these next installments as a test to see if these heroes could function in their own continuities, while still having them live within the DCEU. Wonder Woman was in Batman V Superman, and Aquaman was in Justice League, but their respective films didn't rely on anything from previous movies to tell their stories. Wonder Woman took place in the past, and Aquaman barely acknowledged the Justice League film, even though it took place after the events of the team-up movie. Following their success, Shazam! hit big while having nothing to do with Justice League, although it had more of a connection to the DCEU thanks to the fandom of Freddy Freeman and the appearance at the end of Superman.

Now, with The Flash, the world will change entirely. Past worlds will be acknowledged, as evident by Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne. Ben Affleck will also appear, keeping the continuity tied to the main DCEU fans have gotten to know. However, just like the comics, it will create a new world based on past projects. The status of Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam! likely won't change, nor will Flash in a sense. Batman should be altered, with the film likely opening up a world in which a different actor is playing the Dark Knight.

After Flashpoint in the comics, a similar thing happened, with significant differences being seen in many titles as most of them were rebooted. However, there were always the underlining memories of readers concerning the relationship between characters. Batman and Superman had a close relationship in the original timeline, and the New 52 was all about showing how they developed a similar friendship in the new reality. These are the same characters, just with new stories that are not handcuffed by what came before.

This fact is more important in the movies, where some fans might not be as familiar with the character's histories outside of the few films they appeared in. Warner Bros. is doing what they need to do to keep the fans who are happy onboard and bring back the fans who wish things were still the same as when Snyder was running things. By creating the Multiverse in the DCEU, filmmakers can tell whatever stories they want without focusing on consistency across movies.

This is something Warner Bros. already proved they could do with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, telling stories inside the world, without caring about the events of previous movies. They also demonstrated with Joker that they could create an award-worthy film without needing to fit in critical points to make the overall DCEU's dots connect properly. The Flash will give an excuse for Warner Bros. to do whatever they want, and that will make the DCEU thrive, but let's not act like this trajectory wasn't something that already began a few years ago.

Directed by Andy Muschietti with a script by Christina Hodson, The Flash stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. It is scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 3, 2022.

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Shawn S. Lealos (767 Articles Published)

Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. He has worked as a journalist for 25 years, starting in newspapers and magazines before moving to online media as the world changed. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and a current voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has work published on websites like The Huffington Post, Time Warner Cable, Yahoo Movies, The Movie Network, Chud, Renegade Cinema, 411mania, and Monsters & Critics. Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. Visit Shawn Lealos' website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him on Twitter @sslealos.