Run, Barry, run!
Hours after DC Studios’ James Gunn teased its release via social media on Tuesday, DC has released the next trailer for The Flash from director Andy Muschietti (It). Its release precedes the movie’s early screening at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, an annual event for cinema exhibitors.
The second trailer for The Flash doubles down on Michael Keaton’s Batman, who almost shares the same amount of screentime as Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen. But unlike the first trailer, which went heavy with the nostalgia-baiting for Tim Burton’s Batman movies, this trailer actually gives us a proper idea of the universe-shattering plot of the long-awaited DC movie. Watch the trailer below.
The Flash is loosely based on the 2011 DC event series Flashpoint, in which Barry Allen/The Flash runs back in time to prevent his mother’s death and unwittingly creates a whole new timeline for the DC Universe, as well as the 2016 story The Button, where The Flash teams up with Batman to investigate a strange mystery in the multiverse.
While The Flash won’t apparently adapt Flashpoint panel-for-panel — the movie doesn’t seem to include the war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman that happened in the comics — it is still featuring a dream crossover: Michael Keaton, back in the role of Batman and reprising his iconic film role. The actor was expected to play the role again in the scrapped Batgirl, but that movie remains deep in the vault at Warner Bros. Discovery after CEO David Zaslav killed it for financial reasons last summer. The Flash also features Sasha Calle as Supergirl.
While lead Ezra Miller remains the subject of numerous controversies including physical assault and underage grooming, there is still prevalent buzz that The Flash exceeds expectations as a modern superhero movie. That DC is screening the movie far ahead of its wide release on June 16 speaks to faith in the project on the part of the studio.
While James Gunn and Peter Safran have assumed leadership of DC Studios as of November 2022, DC’s movies in 2023 represent the last hurrah for the previous regime. While Shazam! Fury of the Gods was a box office disappointment, there is hope that the positive word of mouth for The Flash will end the era on a high note.
Two more DC movies to follow The Flash in 2023 will be Blue Beetle, out August 18, and the sequel to 2018’s Aquaman, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on December 20. It remains to be seen if The Flash outraces them all.
