The Flash Will End DCEU’s Snyder Canon Debate, But You May Not Like It

More than just being the first live-action solo Flash movie, The Flash is set to answer a lot of questions regarding the DCEU’s future – including whether Zack Snyder’s Justice League is canon. With no announced plans regarding the Justice League following the 2017 Justice League film and the Snyder Cut, it has become difficult to predict the future of the DC films past 2023. Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav has teased a 10-year plan for the DCEU, and whatever the new management has planned for the Justice League franchise will most likely start with The Flash.

More than a year has passed since the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and yet the status of the DCEU’s Justice League remains very much a mystery. Justice League (2017) was a box office disaster that put the future of the Justice League on the big screen in check, followed by a vocal online campaign for Warner Bros. to release the Zack Snyder cut of the film. It did not seem likely that the Snyder Cut would be released considering the studio was trying to move on from the Justice League fiasco, but the HBO Max launch and the streaming service’s need for more original content led to Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally becoming a reality. Originally planned to be released as a four-part series, the Snyder Cut arrived on HBO Max on March 2021 as a four-hour feature film that differed from the theatrical cut in many notable ways.

Of the DC superheroes featured in Justice League, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman were the only ones to have a solo movie released after the 2017 team-up film. Considering that Wonder Woman 1984 was a prequel set decades before the events of Justice League, Aquaman had been so far the only DCEU movie to actually explore the story of a Justice League member after the Justice League film. That said, Aquaman was released before the Snyder Cut, which means whatever impact Zack Snyder’s Justice League may have had on the future of the Justice League heroes has yet to be felt. There are currently no plans for more Zack Snyder DC films, and Warner Bros. reportedly considers the theatrical cut as the canon version. All of that considered, The Flash should make clear which Justice League cut the DCEU filmmakers consider canon, as Barry Allen’s powers and previous experiences as a superhero in the Snyder Cut differ a lot from what had been established in the theatrical cut.

How Zack Snyder’s Justice League Differs From 2017’s Justice League

Considering its four-hour runtime, Zack Snyder’s Justice League would always be different from the theatrical cut. That said, the differences between Zack Snyder’s Justice League and the 2017 Justice League go far beyond the runtime. The Snyder Cut plays much more as a sequel to the stories of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with both thematic and visual callbacks to moments from Snyder’s first two DC films. The Snyder Cut has a considerable amount of worldbuilding that was not present in the theatrical cut, especially regarding Apokolips and Darkseid. In fact, Darkseid does not appear in the theatrical Justice League cut while Zack Snyder’s Justice League features Darkseid in several scenes. The 2017 Justice League ends without many loose ends, except for a Legion of Doom setup in the post-credits scene. Zack Snyder’s Justice League, on the other hand, ends with Darkseid getting his armada ready to attack Earth. Another major difference is that Silas Stone, Cyborg’s father, dies in Zack Snyder’s Justice League but is alive at the end of the theatrical cut.

There are also a few differences regarding Flash as a character. In the theatrical Justice League cut, Flash says he does not have any experience in fighting; there is also no mention of time travel in the 2017 Justice League. However, in the Snyder Cut, Flash seems to have more experience as a superhero, including the fact he has already time-traveled. Barry mentions that he can bend time around him when achieving a certain speed, and later travels back in time to prevent the Motherboxes from destroying Earth.

The DCEU Contradicted The Snyder Cut (Before It Was Released)

In hindsight, the DCEU already contradicted the Snyder Cut in at least two major ways. One is that Mera says in Zack Snyder’s Justice League that her father is dead. However, in Aquaman, Mera’s father is very much alive – King Nereus played by Dolph Lundgren. The other potential inconsistency is Superman’s cameo in Shazam. Superman, whose actual face did not appear in Shazam, was wearing his classic red and blue suit in the movie. However, in the Snyder Cut, Superman chooses to keep wearing his black and white suit even after returning to his everyday Clark Kent life. Obviously, the King Nereus situation is much more meaningful than Superman’s suit, and it showcases how difficult it would be for the Snyder Cut to be granted as canon the DCEU. Still, both Aquaman and Shazam were released before Zack Snyder’s Justice League was even announced, and there has yet to be an official confirmation of which Justice League version is canon for future films.

How The Flash Can Settle The Justice League Canon Debate

The Flash is confirmed to deal with time travel and the multiverse, and that is how it can easily settle the Justice League canon debate. That is because Barry had never once used time travel in the theatrical cut, at least not in battle, while Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s Barry already knows exactly how his powers relate to time travel and has used them to revert time during a battle. Zack Snyder’s Justice League makes it clear that the final fight against Steppenwolf was the first time Barry consciously used time travel in battle, which is a huge difference in the story of a character like Flash.

Therefore, if either Barry or Ben Affleck’s Batman acknowledges that Flash has already used time travel before to save the day in Justice League, that will mean The Flash and future DCEU films will consider the Snyder Cut as canon. If, however, The Flash plays out as if Barry has never once traveled back in time during a battle, then it means the theatrical Justice League cut is the one the DCEU will consider canon.

Why It’s Better For The Flash If The Snyder Cut Is Canon

Even if there are no plans for the Snyderverse to be restored, it would be better for the DCEU – especially for The Flash – if Zack Snyder’s Justice League was considered canon. Barry Allen is one of the characters who was significantly improved in the Snyder Cut, going from a comic relief in the theatrical cut to the hero who saves the day in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The Snyder Cut treats Barry Allen as a more experienced hero, and it quickly establishes that Barry knows the dangers of time travel. The Flash is clearly inspired by Flashpoint, and it will most likely deal with the fallout of Barry selfishly using his time travel powers.

As such, The Flash would save a lot of screen time if it considers the events of Zack Snyder’s Justice League as canon, establishing right away that Flash already knows how far his time travel powers can go. That said, as of now, there is no indication that the DCEU will rework its canon to make Zack Snyder’s Justice League the “official” cut – which can be disappointing for those who wanted to see more of that iteration of the Justice League, and more importantly, of that iteration of the Flash.