Warner Bros’ DCEU has had many problems since it’s inception with Man of Steel back in 2013. Pretty much every movie within the DCEU has had some sort of problem during production, besides 2017’s Wonder Woman. While I love both DC and Marvel, I have always tended to lean towards DC… If I had to choose one.
DC Comics has been around since essentially 1938 when Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, while the company was founded in 1934 though. His popularity kickstarted a love for superheroes. Marvel Comics was founded in 1939, but didn’t hit a gold mine with a certain character until Spider-Man appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. One, myself included, could argue that DC has produced far more iconic characters in the comics than Marvel has. While Stan Lee is one of my more favorite people of all time and has created hundreds upon hundreds of characters for Marvel, not all of them are icons. DC’s icons, and this is before the movies started making characters popular, include Batman, Wonder Woman, the Joker, Superman, and the Flash while Marvel has Spider-Man, and that’s really it of world renowned characters pre the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s start in 2008.
DC has so much potential with movies, that it’s hilarious. The Flash movie used to be called Flashpoint, but it has since been changed but will still revolve around that particular iconic storyline. After losing multiple directors, the Flash movie has finally settled on John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein to tell the story of the Scarlet Speedster. Here’s hoping that with the coming months, the story and over all direction of the Flash movie is realized.
Here’s how the Flash movie can redeem the DCEU.
No Reboot
The most popular theory is that the Flash movie, tentatively titled Flashpoint, may reset the entire DCEU, wiping the slate clean and allowing for them to correct all their mistakes and start fresh. In the comics, Flashpoint is a storyline where Barry Allen, aka the Flash, goes to the past and saves his mother from being murdered by Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash, thereby creating an alternative reality in the present day, that is much worse.
While the reboot method may be the easiest way to go, there are a lot of good things in the DCEU which will be sacrificed as a result of a reboot.
Okay, Maybe a Soft Reboot
While a hard resetting of the entire DCEU negating all the awesome stories and origins that we’ve already gotten may not be the best way to go, a soft reboot would be more preferable. Similar to what Fox did with X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
Fox’s X-Men universe rebooted after Days Of Future Past, they were able to move on, and tell new stories with (mostly) new cast members, while still retaining the versions of characters that worked from its previous incarnation, along with the actors that portrayed them. They simply moved on.
DC & Warner Bros. need to similarly use Flashpoint to tell a story that serves as an introduction to the Flash and set up his world first, without worrying about a larger DCEU. Co-Director John Francis Daley already mentioned that the time travel and inception of a possible Flashpoint storyline could be as a result of an inexperienced Flash just testing his powers. The reality altering at the end of which, could be minor tweaks and changes to the more, unfavorable elements of the established DCEU, instead of wiping the slate clean altogether.
We could then move forward to tell solo-hero stories that are not beholden to the moments of the DCUE that didn’t resonate, and shift towards a better shared universe from that point onwards.
Not really a reset, but a modification of current events, an alteration in the time line that corrects elements of the DCEU that haven’t quite worked.
The Flash as a Character
Warner Bros. has attempted to ‘lighten’ the tone of their dark and gritty universe with humor, by having it be shoehorned into existing stories and films, after the fact.
But the Flash is the one character who is inherently light-hearted and funny. Barry Allen is a hopeful young man, despite tragedy in his past, who still remains optimistic and retains hope in the face of soul crushing life events. His entire life and career as a forensic analyst stemmed from wanting to prove his father’s innocence after being convicted of murdering his mother.
So the movie should accordingly reflect those attributes with a hero who sees the brighter side of things, has fun with his powers and isn’t weighed down by the baggage as the other DCEU heroes seem to be so far.
Whatever the story, the movie shouldn’t shy away from jokes or light-hearted moments, not to compensate for a dark tone, but because this is the movie to have that tone to being with! There should be plot lines involving Barry trying to juggle a personal life, relationships, crime fighting and his job; elements of the basic super hero secret identity which has gone ignored in the last few years of shared universes, with the exception of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Coincidentally, the directors of Flashpoint are also the ones who were involved in writing the Spider-Man: Homecoming. And co-director Jonathan Goldstein even compared Flash as being the Spider-Man of the DCEU: “In much the same way that Peter Parker is sort of the entry level way into the Marvel Superhero Universe, they both share that quality that they’re still a little excited to have these powers and they’re newbies and all that.”
Focus on the Heart not the Spectacle
The makers behind The CW TV series The Flash have a motto in their writers’ room: heart, humor and spectacle. This mantra is applied to every episode. Flashpoint needs to focus on similar ideologies to tell a story that is moving from a character perspective, with a lot of heart. The humor and spectacle will be that much more effective if the audience connects to the characters immediately.
Bring back the themes of the father-son relationship that was focused on in Man Of Steel. Show us how Barry became the man he is, without a father-figure in his life, and how that affected them both.
The Flash is a superhero who was born out of Barry Allen’s love for his mom, and his need for closure, so the movie should be accordingly equally uplifting and heartbreaking, and not brutally depressing and joyless in tone and execution.
Not Shying Away From The Love Story
One of the reasons why Flash stands out is his love story with Iris West. Their relationship is always portrayed as her being his anchor, his lightning rod, during moments of crisis that other superheroes just have to punch their way through. For a hero that travels through time, dimensions and alternate worlds, Irish is always what brings him back.
The CW incarnation focuses on that heavily with great results as it makes the hero more than just his powers, villains or fight scenes.
With the casting of Kiersey Clemons, it seems Flashpoint will be following the new 52 version of their relationship, which is great. An all out romantic super hero love story is also something that’s sorely missing in the DCEU, and Flashpoint can definitely look to remedy that.
A Compelling Villain
The Flash’s origins and back story is all connected to his villains. So have a villain that is equally substantial in character development, and not a throwaway baddie who is there to do bad things.
If It’s Eobard Thawne, then give the character a back story that provides the motivation for his actions. Thawne shouldn’t just be portrayed as the cackling maniac out to destroy the Flash. If Black Panther’s Killmonger taught us anything, it’s that a great villain only serves to enhance the story and further the effectiveness of the conflict at hand.
This movie could make or break the DCEU. IT could be a perfectly well done film if they follow what I said, or it could be a mess kind of like how Justice League was.
Superhero Dynasty 