The incoming The Flash movie definitely isn’t going down the expected route for the Scarlet Speedster’s first solo cinematic outing. While it’s somewhat an adaptation of Barry Allen’s most famous storyline Flashpoint, the film is making a number of huge changes to the source material, including the addition of Michael Keaton’s Batman in place of Thomas Wayne’s, Sasha Calle’s Supergirl instead of Superman, and a doppelganger of the Flash himself instead of Barry’s eternal nemesis, Reverse-Flash.
While Eobard Thawne himself appears to be sitting out the movie, though, The Flash fanatics are wondering if Andy Muschietti’s directorial effort is going to address the yellow-suited speedster in the room in any capacity. Given that you basically can’t have the Flash without his arch-enemy — hence Thawne returning again and again in The CW’s TV series – it stands to reason he’ll receive some kind of acknowledgement on screen, but with The Flash being so different from the comics, who knows?
As one Reddit thread from user Yu_Vlugxluk explored (using a particularly gruesome panel to remind us just how evil Reverse-Flash really is), there’s some debate over whether the movie will “tease/mention” the villain. Many seem pretty confident that he’ll factor into proceedings somewhere, however, given his lofty status in Flash lore.
DC history at least would have us expect a post-credits appearance that goes nowhere, although you’d hope things would be different under James Gunn.
Others are still convinced that Miller’s second Barry Allen might turn out to be Thawne in disguise.
Sorry to burst that bubble, but leaked merchandise does seem to confirm that Dark Barry is his own distinct character from Reverse-Flash, which does throw extra doubt on if he’ll show. Plus, we do have Michael Shannon’s General Zod in the mix too, so there might not be room for another iconic DC foe. The race to uncover all The Flash‘s secrets will be over come its theatrical release on June 16.