When Flashpoint was announced last summer at San Diego Comic Con, fans everywhere were sent into a frenzy – and understandably so – thinking the comic book story arc of the same name would be adapted for film. After all, this particular tale is one that folks have wanted to see on the big screen for some time now, even if we already got a faithful adaptation in the animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
For those unfamiliar with it, in 2011, Geoff Johns penned a five-issue miniseries titled Flashpoint that saw the Scarlet Speedster go back in time to save his mother. In doing so, he royally screwed up the timeline, creating a world filled with darker heroes. Eventually, he (kind of) set things right, thereby allowing DC to do a line-wide reboot in the form of the New 52.
Of course, seeing this realized with a massive Hollywood budget is enough to make any one of us hyperventilate, but it’s now sounding as if we shouldn’t get too excited just yet. After some supposed character breakdowns emerged not too long ago, many wondered if perhaps the Flash solo film would be Flashpoint in name only. And while WB has yet to confirm if that’ll be the case, The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez is teasing that it is.
Taking to Twitter, he shared the below photo of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Batman fading away into dust. There was no caption attached to it, but the message here is pretty clear: WB is ditching the beloved storyline and won’t be using it in the film. Or at least, we presume that’s the message. After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that the arc will no longer be adapted.
With Justice League having bombed at the box office, it’d make little sense for Warner Bros. to sink so much money into what would essentially be “Justice League 1.5.” So, as much as it may upset fans to see the studio ditching their plans, perhaps it’s for the best. For The Flash’s first solo film, it’s probably smarter to make it focused just on him rather than him and the rest of the team, which would have been the case if the Flashpoint arc was adapted.
Again, though, we should stress that WB has remained quiet on the matter and for now, there’s no confirmation on if Gonzalez is right here. That being said, he’s usually pretty reliable and if we had to guess, Barry Allen’s first standalone movie will indeed be ditching the Flashpoint storyline.