Of all the on-again-off-again DC movies, The Flash has had the most extended history of delays. The film’s first brief look occurred at DC FanDome back in 2021, only for the release date to change repeatedly, first in light of star Ezra Miller’s troubling behavior and then seemingly thanks to the DC/Warner shake-up as James Gunn and Peter Safran were appointed as co-heads of the newly created DC studios. However, the movie is finally set to hit theaters this summer, and thanks to some merch leaks, we may finally have our first look at the movie’s villain. And honestly, wow.
A Twitter user named DCVERSO Mídias posted an image to their account that appears to be from The Flash action figures. The picture shows off what appears to be four characters planned for the superhero movie’s toy line. One seems to be of Michael Keaton’s Batman, two are different versions of Miller’s take on the red speedster, and one is of the villainous character Dark Flash. You can see the images below:
pic.twitter.com/RkoVaNvMhyJanuary 19, 2023
The name Dark Flash has been used as a moniker for several different iterations of various speed force users. For example, CW’s The Flash television series fans will recognize the name as a version of Harry Wells, who appeared in the Arrow-verse crossover event.
However, the toy sports a mangled face masked behind a bulkier black Flash suit with spikes emerging from the shoulders, which seems to take inspiration (at least in appearance) from the Black Flash. A character created for the comics by writers Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and artist Ron Wagner. In the comics, Black Flash performs the role of a Grim Reaper or Death for all super-speed users. This interpretation would be an exciting take on the villain. It would go a long way from differentiating itself from the many iterations of Reverse-Flash, which has been seen across the Gregory Berlanti-produced CW series.
This isn’t the first time we have potentially gotten a glimpse of the film’s big baddie. In February of last year, a stunt performer on The Flash showed off his stunt team t-shirt when production wrapped. That original Instagram post has since been deleted, but like all things on the internet, it has gone on to live forever. The shirt depicts figures easily identifiable as Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. But what is interesting is, at first glance, what might appear to be the film’s main hero, is a silhouette with weird mangled-looking arms and legs and a logo of a red lightning bolt over a black circle. The red lightning bolt over a black circle is known to Flash fans as the symbol of either the Reverse-Flash or the Black Flash. And it seems this shirt’s silhouette matches the toys teased in the Twitter user’s post. If the toys are accurate, we may finally know which villain to expect going up against the fastest man alive.
We know The Flash is taking inspiration from the 2011 storyline Flashpoint, in which Reverse-Flash plays an integral part. This Dark Flash may combine aspects from all three of the speedster’s deadliest super speed enemies. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend to find out which of the Crimson Comet’s rogues makes it into the upcoming superhero movie adaptation.
