With the release of Justice League last year, the DCEU is now in a position to start spinning the new DC heroes off into their own solo movies. We will see that happen later this year with the release of James Wan's Aquaman on December 21, but another project that's on our radar is John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein's Flash solo movie. The expectation towards the film is that it will adapt the Flashpoint storyline (even if it's not officially called Flashpoint), and while there's quite a bit of excitement towards the film, the fact of the matter is that this is not remotely the time for DC to make a Flashpoint adaptation.
Like Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) showing up in The Batcave after the Knightmare scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, an adaptation of Geoff Johns' Flashpoint would simply be "too soon." There are several storylines involved in the core Flashpoint arc, but the basic gist is that Barry goes back in time to prevent the murder of his mother (something briefly touched upon in Justice League) and saves her. As a result of his actions, he wakes up in a dystopian future in which Thomas Wayne is a gun-toting Batman, Superman is a prisoner in a government facility, Cyborg is the lone protector of America, and Aquaman and Wonder Woman are engaged in a bitter war threatening to destroy the world. This arc isn't just a Flash story; it's a sprawling DC crossover, and we haven't lived in the current version of the DCEU nearly long enough to understand each character's role in the affair.
That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how much Flash mythology we need to see established in the DCEU before the story can receive an adaptation. Flashpoint is a story about Barry Allen and his long-running rivalry with Eobard Thawne a.k.a Reverse-Flash, but that character has not even been introduced in the DCEU yet. For the emotional payoff of the storyline to work, Barry needs to live with the loss of his mom and the presence of his superpowers for at least one full solo movie while the groundwork is laid. It's the same reason why Marvel couldn't go straight to Captain America: Civil War after The Avengers; time was needed to flesh out Steve Rogers' ever-evolving viewpoint and introduce essential heroes and villains to make the storyline work. After all, even The Flash TV series waited two full seasons before diving into that story, and that adaptation barely scratched the surface of Flashpoint's complexity.
Of course, some fans want to see a Flashpoint movie debut for one specific reason: it will allow DC to use time travel as a means of logically rebooting less-than-favorable elements of the DCEU out of existence. This isn't dissimilar to what the X-Men franchise did with X-Men: Days of Future Past, and it could result in the phasing out of certain elements (such as Ben Affleck's Batman) while leaving things like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman in place. While this is certainly a possibility, and there's definitely a case to be made in support of a reboot, Flashpoint is far too critical of a story to waste at this stage of the game. The storyline is iconic to the point that many mainstream audiences can recognize it, and adapting it properly could be an easy victory for a cinematic universe that desperately needs a hit right now. As ironic as it sounds, DC needs to take it slow with that Flash story.
So what does this mean? If The Flash's solo movie shouldn't be Flashpoint, then what should the storyline actually be? There are myriad directions to take the character (particularly considering how well audiences responded to him in Justice League), but the key is to start with the basics and build from there. One obvious course of action would be to take a cue from Suicide Squad and establish The Rogues as the first main villain ensemble for Barry to go up against, using Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang as a springboard. With that framework in place, the burgeoning Flash franchise can tease the eventual arrival of Eobard Thawne in a future movie and proceed to Flashpoint when the time is right. Make no mistake, we want Flashpoint. We just don't want it right now.
No matter what happens with The Flash's solo movie, CinemaBlend will bring you more updates related to the project as they become available. Until then, make sure to keep your eyes on the seven seas and watch out for James Wan's Aquaman when it debuts in theaters on December 21.
