We’ve been waiting a long time for The Flash, with the scarlet speedster’s first solo movie originally pencilled in for a 2016 release. But now the wait is over, as The Flash will be speeding into cinemas on June 16.
Whether it’s the final film in the DCEU or the first of the new era under new DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran is up for debate (it’s a bit of a mess over there, tbh) but this Flash is the Justice League Flash, played by the, uh, “troubled” Ezra Miller. When he travels back in time to try and prevent the murder of his mother, he’s successful—but he creates a new timeline bereft of superheroes. That’s bad news, because Man of Steel’s General Zod (Michael Shannon) is alive, well, and in a mood to conquer Earth…
Of course, as you can see from the trailer, the Fastest Man Alive does manage to find some fellow supes, including his alternate self, Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and OH MY GOD MICHAEL KEATON IS BACK AS BATMAN. Take our money. All of it.
In fact, we get two Batmans for the price of one, as Ben Affleck reprises his role as the DCEU Dark Knight. The real question is whether Keaton is playing Bruce Wayne—you should check out the source comic Flashpoint to see why it’s possible this Batman isn’t Bruce.
IT director Andy Muschietti is calling the shots on this one, having taken over the reins after the departure of Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, and filmmaking team John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein over the course of the film’s tortuously long development. From what we can see, it looks like he’s pulled together a good-looking movie, but such a troubled production, the complete implosion of the shared universe it was supposed to be part of, and the sheer number of cooks in the kitchen mean it’s anyone’s guess whether the story works.
Still, Michael Keaton is back in the Batsuit—that’s gotta be worth a ticket.
