The incoming The Flash movie has so much riding against it, what with all the endless delays and the negative press surrounding star Ezra Miller. On top of that, Scarlet Speedster stans already have a definitive live-action take on the character that they love unconditionally, in the form of Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen, who’s ten-year stint as the hero is just about to end with the conclusion of The CW’s The Flash after its current and ninth season.
But it’s not just in the eyes of fans that Miller’s Flash comes second to Gustin’s, it’s offical DCU canon, too. As Redditor MysteryPlaid helpfully reminded us all, the Flashes of two worlds came face to face in 2020’s epic “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event, which subtly featured a major moment for the DCEU character: he gets the idea to call himself the Flash from the Arrowverse version.
“Friendly reminder that canonically, if The Flash in the upcoming The Flash film refers to himself as The Flash,” the fan explained, “it’s because he got the idea from CW’s The Flash.”
Back in the day, the ties between the DCEU and the Arrowverse were proudly trumpeted — the idea for Miller showing up actually came from Warner Bros. Plus, it’s worth noting that “Crisis” featured ties to the Earth of Michael Keaton’s Batman too, ahead of his Flash film return. Now that James Gunn is captain of the ship, however, the connection appears to have been severed, if the fact the new DC Studios co-CEO reportedly wouldn’t even hold a meeting with the architect of the Arrowverse is anything to go by.
Whether the long-held rumor that Gustin turns up for a cameo in The Flash movie turns out to be true or not, just remember that Miller’s Crimson Comet officially owes his superhero name to his more popular predecessor.