The Flash (2022)

[The Laughing Fish]

A digital artist called George Evangelista shared this amazing artwork of Keaton and Miller.



Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEYL95ZpCR_/

He even shared these excellent pictures of Keaton standing on a gargoyle, inspired by Jim Lee's Batman artwork. I would love it if we get a shot of Keaton's Batman that's equivalent to this.







Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CC0lTbBJXzA/

[Silver Nemesis]

I only mean that if Batman has adapted a no-kill policy and sworn off the type of murderous brutality he had shown villains in the past, he may have some remorse and regrets over some of his past kills.

The problem with this idea is that it runs contrary to one of the central themes of the Flashpoint comic – namely that it's better to keep moving forward and focus one's energies on building a better tomorrow than constantly looking backwards and dwelling on the unalterable misfortunes of yesterday.

The comic story begins with Barry Allen trying to undo the death of someone close to him, his mother Nora, which has the side effect of disrupting the fabric of space-time to create the dystopian Flashpoint universe. If Barry can't change the past to save his own mother, then it doesn't really make sense for him to repeatedly make the same mistake trying to undo all the deaths from Bruce's past. The only deaths I think Bruce would really consider altering anyway would be those of his parents, and doing so would only unravel the thread of causality to create a temporal paradox that would put him right back where he started – if his parents didn't die, he'd never become Batman and would thus never travel back in time to prevent their deaths. Barry could theoretically use the Speed Force to circumvent this problem, but Bruce couldn't.

Besides, I think most fans would rather see Bat-Keats in a new story rather than have him revisit scenes from the older films. I know I would.

I'm seeing a lot of speculation that Keaton might be digitally-de-aged for most of The Flash before appearing at the end of the film as old Bruce. Some fans think they'll make him look like he did in his forties, similar to how Samuel L Jackson was de-aged for Captain Marvel. That way he'll look roughly the same age he would have been had he starred in Batman Forever. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'd rather he be old Batman, but with some flashback scenes showing a digitally de-aged Bruce training pre-89, or fighting Burtonised versions of other classic comic villains after the events of BR. But for the main story, I like the idea of him being an older Batman who's been fighting crime nonstop for the past three decades.

I also like the idea that Keaton will be the only Batman actor to have played the part in live action during four different decades of his life: he was in his thirties when he shot the 1989 film, in his forties when he filmed Batman Returns, he'll be in his sixties when he shoots The Flash early next year, and he'll be in his seventies when he makes any further appearances after that. The only decades of his adult life where he didn't play the role were his twenties and fifties.

Another rumour that's going round is that Reverse Flash will not be the main villain in the movie: https://heroichollywood.com/ezra-miller-reverse-flash-the-flash-main-villain/

This is weird, considering Thawne was the catalyst for the plot in the original comic. I can understand Flash fans being ticked off about this. Ever since they announced Flashpoint was the inspiration for this movie, I've regarded it as less of a Flash solo outing and more of a Justice League story focusing on Barry and Bruce; similar to how Captain America: Civil War is really an Avengers film focusing on Tony and Steve rather than a true Cap solo movie. Flashpoint is one of those stories you have to build up to. Using it as the basis for the first Flash solo film is like using The Killing Joke or A Death in the Family as the basis for the first Batman film. I was dead against the idea... until they announced Keaton was coming back, whereupon my inner Bat-fan brutally beat my inner Flash-fan into submission. Now I'm 100% in favour of it. As far as I'm concerned, this is really a Justice League movie starring Batman and the Flash. They should re-title it Flashpoint IMO.

Anyway, if Reverse Flash isn't the villain, then who will be? I've seen some comments speculating that it might be the Napier Joker. I hope that's not true. I'd love to see Napier resurrected, but they should save that for the Batman Beyond movie and have DiCaprio play the part.

It doesn't make sense for Joker to be the bad guy in this particular story anyway. So how about another Flash villain like Abra Kadabra or Hunter Zolomon/Zoom? I'd be very surprised if we didn't see some Burtonised Batman villains make an appearance (ideally Scarecrow and Billy Dee Two-Face), but I'm not sure any of them would be suitable as the main antagonist.

Here are some fan posters by Yadvender Singh Rana:

I love how the batsuit in that last one mixes the 89 costume with the Returns cowl. Hopefully his costume in the finished film will look similar to this.

[thecolorsblend]

I'm seeing a lot of speculation that Keaton might be digitally-de-aged for most of The Flash before appearing at the end of the film as old Bruce. Some fans think they'll make him look like he did in his forties, similar to how Samuel L Jackson was de-aged for Captain Marvel. That way he'll look roughly the same age he would have been had he starred in Batman Forever. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'd rather he be old Batman, but with some flashback scenes showing a digitally de-aged Bruce training pre-89, or fighting Burtonised versions of other classic comic villains after the events of BR. But for the main story, I like the idea of him being an older Batman who's been fighting crime nonstop for the past three decades.

I get the idea that a lot of actors are touchy about de-aging technology. They seem to want their face as it is right now to feature prominently in a movie. There are rumors that the de-aging bit from Civil War took a LOT of convincing for Downey to agree to.

Unless we see young(er) Bruce without a mask, I don't see much of a need for de-aging anyway.

This is weird, considering Thawne was the catalyst for the plot in the original comic. I can understand Flash fans being ticked off about this. Ever since they announced Flashpoint was the inspiration for this movie, I've regarded it as less of a Flash solo outing and more of a Justice League story focusing on Barry and Bruce; similar to how Captain America: Civil War is really an Avengers film focusing on Tony and Steve rather than a true Cap solo movie. Flashpoint is one of those stories you have to build up to. Using it as the basis for the first Flash solo film is like using The Killing Joke or A Death in the Family as the basis for the first Batman film. I was dead against the idea... until they announced Keaton was coming back, whereupon my inner Bat-fan brutally beat my inner Flash-fan into submission. Now I'm 100% in favour of it. As far as I'm concerned, this is really a Justice League movie starring Batman and the Flash. They should re-title it Flashpoint IMO.

Ditto. For me, Keaton coming back trumps everything else. Doesn't matter, Keaton's Batman again, nothing else is important. It's a similar attitude to what I had back in Smallville's tenth season, when the showrunners found a way to bring John Glover back to the show. I was grateful that they found a clever way of doing it. But at the end of the day, he was back on the show and so nothing else seemed important to me. Same with Keaton as Batman. Times about a million tho.

Anyway, if Reverse Flash isn't the villain, then who will be? I've seen some comments speculating that it might be the Napier Joker. I hope that's not true. I'd love to see Napier resurrected, but they should save that for the Batman Beyond movie and have DiCaprio play the part.

It doesn't make sense for Joker to be the bad guy in this particular story anyway. So how about another Flash villain like Abra Kadabra or Hunter Zolomon/Zoom? I'd be very surprised if we didn't see some Burtonised Batman villains make an appearance (ideally Scarecrow and Billy Dee Two-Face), but I'm not sure any of them would be suitable as the main antagonist.

Leo seems decidedly opposed to comic book films. There's just no way that being offered the Joker in Flashpoint is the first comic book role he's ever gotten. Hell, it might not even be the first time he's been offered the Joker. I wouldn't be too surprised if he got tapped on the shoulder for Suicide Squad, for example.

If somebody really wants to toy with the multiverse bit tho, they could give Tom Cavanagh a call about playing Thawne. That might be kind of cheeky. Worst case, they could use Matt Letscher as Thawne, he'd be fun too.

[Silver Nemesis]

Leo seems decidedly opposed to comic book films. There's just no way that being offered the Joker in Flashpoint is the first comic book role he's ever gotten. Hell, it might not even be the first time he's been offered the Joker. I wouldn't be too surprised if he got tapped on the shoulder for Suicide Squad, for example.

Weird as this may sound, I actually respect him for that. It would be easy to follow the Hollywood herd and take the big Marvel/DC pay cheque. Guys like DiCaprio and Gosling must have been offered more than their share of CBMS, but I like the fact they're avoiding those kinds of movies in favour of smaller and more interesting projects. Jake Gyllenhaal was in a similar situation before appearing in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and while he was very good as Mysterio a part of me wishes he hadn't done that film.

In DiCaprio's case, you're right that he probably wouldn't want to play the Joker. But if we're fan casting younger actors who could replace Jack, I can't think of anyone better. I say 'younger', but Leo's only about five years younger than Jack was when he shot Batman 89. By time a Batman Beyond film entered production, if indeed it does enter production, then he'd be almost the exact same age as Jack was back then. He'd also be the right age to play a mature Robin who had served alongside Bat-Keaton thirty years ago and was presently possessed by the Joker's spirit.

If somebody really wants to toy with the multiverse bit tho, they could give Tom Cavanagh a call about playing Thawne. That might be kind of cheeky. Worst case, they could use Matt Letscher as Thawne, he'd be fun too.

I'm not a fan of the Arrowverse, but I thought Cavanagh was excellent as Reverse Flash. He was easily the best actor on that show. I wouldn't object to him reprising the part in this film.

[thecolorsblend]

In DiCaprio's case, you're right that he probably wouldn't want to play the Joker. But if we're fan casting younger actors who could replace Jack, I can't think of anyone better. I say 'younger', but Leo's only about five years younger than Jack was when he shot Batman 89. By time a Batman Beyond film entered production, if indeed it does enter production, then he'd be almost the exact same age as Jack was back then. He'd also be the right age to play a mature Robin who had served alongside Bat-Keaton thirty years ago and was presently possessed by the Joker's spirit.

A friend of mine who claims to be in a position to know swears that DiCaprio gets offered basically everything. In this case, "offer" could mean an outright offer or it could mean "come in and audition". But basically, something like 80 or 85% of movie scripts from major studios come his way sooner or later. Obviously, he turns most of them down. But they keep coming because the ones he says "yes" to have a funny way of finding success of some kind.

DiCaprio has my undying gratitude for giving Scorsese a creative second wind. There was a point in the late 90's when Scorsese seemed like he'd lost the fire in his belly from earlier times. Coincidentally or not, he got it back when started working with DiCaprio and has been roaring along ever since.

And I'm with you. Ten years ago, I probably would've resented him turning down comic book movies. But these days, I totally support him and kind of hope he never does one.

But in terms of fan-casting, yeah, DiCaprio as Napier's Joker is a fun thought tho.

Btw, Joaquin Phoenix was a card-carrying member of that same group for a long while too. He got offered tons of comic book movies. I'm grateful that he held out for JOKER.

I'm not a fan of the Arrowverse, but I thought Cavanagh was excellent as Reverse Flash. He was easily the best actor on that show. I wouldn't object to him reprising the part in this film.

I think the problem with the Arrowverse these days is that most of the longtimers aren't really invested in their characters anymore. Gustin and Benoist are the most obvious examples but virtually everybody in those shows looks like they're ready to move on.

For everything I could say about Brandon Routh, he's had a really tough go of it since Superman Returns tanked. He was written out of the Arrowverse, and not really by choice. I get the idea his attachment to Ray Palmer was more of an attachment to ongoing employment. Nevertheless, he was committed to that character... in his typical wooden, bland style.

[The Joker]

Weird as this may sound, I actually respect him for that. It would be easy to follow the Hollywood herd and take the big Marvel/DC pay cheque. Guys like DiCaprio and Gosling must have been offered more than their share of CBMS, but I like the fact they're avoiding those kinds of movies in favour of smaller and more interesting projects. Jake Gyllenhaal was in a similar situation before appearing in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and while he was very good as Mysterio a part of me wishes he hadn't done that film.

Gyllenhaal as Mysterio is one of those things where I don't know if I'll ever be entirely comfortable with. Sure, he was good enough in the role (despite being yet another MCU spider-man villain who's creation sparked with Mr. Stark rather than his ward *sigh*), but I literally had Bruce Campbell for years as Mysterio in my mind, even after the ASM reboot, and it's one of those things I'll always wonder about. Similar to Robin Williams as the Riddler circa 1995.

In DiCaprio's case, you're right that he probably wouldn't want to play the Joker. But if we're fan casting younger actors who could replace Jack, I can't think of anyone better. I say 'younger', but Leo's only about five years younger than Jack was when he shot Batman 89. By time a Batman Beyond film entered production, if indeed it does enter production, then he'd be almost the exact same age as Jack was back then. He'd also be the right age to play a mature Robin who had served alongside Bat-Keaton thirty years ago and was presently possessed by the Joker's spirit.

I agree that Dicaprio would be the apex as far as having someone who could completely embody Jack Nicholson's Joker. But talk about shooting for the moon and hoping for the best. In any event, the casting for the Beyond Joker is, in my mind, going to be a very delicate issue. Sure, familiar lines, weapons, or dubbed in audio from Nicholson (perhaps from b roll footage, or deleted takes that Warners may have in their vaults .... i would assume stuff like that wasn't destroyed or left to rot, but this is Warners we're talking about, so absolute incompetence definitely isn't out of the question here) are good cinematic aides to sell the notion of 'possession', but whoever is cast is going to have their work cut out for him, in addition to having to have a cinematic presence and confidence to just even be worthy of Jack Nicholson's Joker. This isn't yet another Joker incarnation that's seperate from prior versions with no ties. Beyond's Joker is literally Jack Napier Joker picking up from where 1989 left off. The fact that this is even in the cards to begin with is pretty wild.

[The Dark Knight]

This isn't yet another Joker incarnation that's seperate from prior versions with no ties. Beyond's Joker is literally Jack Napier Joker picking up from where 1989 left off. The fact that this is even in the cards to begin with is pretty wild.

The comparisons to DisneyWars are there in concept. Palpatine coming back after being stone cold dead with barely any concrete explanation, and the galaxy not really caring all that much about it. Only to be killed off in the lamest way possible shortly after. A Nicholson Joker resurrection must avoid these mistakes. Properly explain how he has returned, have the populated terrified by this legendary villain, and if he dies AGAIN the moment is tasteful. DisneyWars is a scar on a franchise I have walked away from - but there's so much to learn from their bungling.

[Silver Nemesis]

[Azrael]

wonderful

[thecolorsblend]

Rumors are flying that Grant Gustin, Tom Welling and others will all be making cameos in The Flash film.

I won't bother linking to articles about that because I don't believe a single word of it. Nevertheless, those rumors are making the rounds.