Zack Snyder’s Justice League Is Great For The Flash Movie

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is perhaps the best thing that could have happened for Ezra Miller’s The Flash movie. When Joss Whedon retooled the Snyder Cut in 2017, it changed many aspects. Some characters were removed from the theatrical version altogether, while others had their storylines rewritten. One of the things that significantly changed in Whedon’s version of Justice League was Barry Allen’s characterization. However, the 4-hour version of the Snyder Cut allowed The Flash to have his arc restored and executed the way it was supposed to. Not only was Barry’s journey fixed, but it helped establish an incredibly different tone for Miller’s Flash in comparison to Whedon’s iteration.

While Grant Gustin has portrayed the Scarlet Speedster for over seven years on The CW’s The Flash, the DCEU will soon see more of Miller’s incarnation after Zack Snyder’s Justice League. After years of development, The Flash solo film is finally coming together with director Andy Muscheitti helming it. Even though it’s not a straight adaptation, the DCEU project will draw inspiration from DC Comics’ Flashpoint storyline. The Flash will focus on Barry going back in time to save his mother, Nora Allen, from being killed. But by doing so, Barry will cause the timeline to be rewritten, including the present. While it’s a time travel story, The Flash will also incorporate the Multiverse, which is becoming a big part of Warner Bros.’s DC strategy from now on.

Even though Miller’s Flash became a reality through Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Warner Bros. is officially not considering the HBO Max product in their established continuity. From the DCEU perspective, the Whedon cut of Justice League is canon, according to Snyder. Although, given what Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has said previously, it seems that the other DC filmmakers are excluding Whedon’s film from their shared world. Tonally and structurally, Whedon’s Justice League doesn’t match what came before and after the theatrical cut. The Flash movie will play around with rewriting its overall reality; who knows what the DCEU might look like after the climax. Nevertheless, Zack Snyder’s Justice League did benefit Miller’s solo project through the director’s foundation for Barry, who has only just begun his journey as a hero.

Snyder Cut Properly Sets Up The Flash Movie

Zack Snyder’s Justice League started with Barry being a superhero in his early days, including not even having his superhero name, The Flash. Through the Snyder Cut, the director gave an insight into Barry’s world and where he’s at in life. After his mother’s tragic death, Barry has spent most of his life trying to clear his father’s name. While he struggles with getting Henry Allen out, Barry is attending Central City University and fights crime with his super-speed. Through Batman, Barry begins his next phase as a superhero by being recruited for the Justice League.

One of the prominent characters restored for Zack Snyder’s Justice League was Iris West, played by Kiersey Clemons. While she only appeared in one scene, it was a pivotal one where Iris and Barry met for the very first time. As the story teases their future love story, Iris also becomes the first person Barry saves in the movie. Iris even sees Barry super-speeding away, making her aware that he has powers. Despite Iris having that one scene, it was still instrumental for The Flash movie to further explore their relationship. The Snyder Cut allows The Flash to have a better setup in this shared universe with the other heroes.

Snyder Cut Gets Rid Of The Flash Movie’s Biggest Hurdles

The Flash’s take on Flashpoint will be heavily reliant on time travel and the Multiverse, two layers that are significant parts of Barry’s mythology. Not only will Ben Affleck’s Batman be back, but the DCEU will also re-introduce Michael Keaton’s version from the Tim Burton franchise. While those are two big concepts that The Flash will explore, Zack Snyder’s Justice League gave it a helping hand. Throughout the Snyder Cut, the story explores Barry performing time travel for the first time when the team initially gets defeated by Steppenwolf and Darkseid. Barry ends up rewinding time just enough for Cyborg to succeed with stopping the Mother Boxes from synchronizing. Not only is it an empowering moment for Barry as a superhero, but the Snyder Cut helps demonstrate a portion of how powerful The Flash is.

Even in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Snyder set up The Flash’s future time traveling as part of the Knightmare saga. At the end of Justice League, they hint at Barry one day going back in time to undo Darkseid’s victory. While the Snyder Cut doesn’t visually show parallel universes per se, the Multiverse got discussed multiple times. That is something that the DCEU has yet to explore, and despite the Snyder Cut being in its own world, The Flash benefits from Justice League’s choices. Instead of introducing both time travel and Multiverse from scratch, The Flash can continue leaning into it. If anything, The Flash gets to flesh it out by having a foundation to work upon, thanks to Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Barry Allen Is A Much Better Character In The Snyder Cut

One of Whedon’s Justice League’s most significant issues was how the story portrayed Barry, both as himself and as The Flash. Barry served more as comedic relief for the team as one of the recruits in the theatrical cut. The reshoots changed Barry’s dialogue to add more humor, resulting in Flash being over-the-top-goofy. Whedon’s reshoots also led to Barry getting used to sexualizing Wonder Woman in a controversial scene where Flash falls into Diana’s chest. Additionally, the way that Barry ran, visually, was something that got heavily criticized in Whedon’s cut as it looked awkward and unnatural. In the Snyder Cut, however, the characterization of Flash has more substance and is incredibly wall-balanced.

Rather than overdoing it, Barry was instead light-hearted where his quips and jokes didn’t become overwhelming. Zack Snyder’s Justice League started with The Flash as a relatively new hero who hadn’t faced dark threats like Steppenwolf or Darkseid at that point. While Barry adds a young and light presence for the team, there’s still character growth towards the Snyder Cut’s end. If anything, Justice League gave Barry a powerful coming-of-age story to progress and learn from his experiences. The Snyder Cut ended with Barry being a step closer to getting his father out of jail as he landed a job in Central City a crime lab. His new job as a future CSI became another opportunity for Barry to get further into his adult life.

Positive Reactions To Snyder Cut Flash Are Great For His Solo Movie

Miller’s portrayal of The Flash in Zack Snyder’s Justice League has received many positive reactions from fans and critics alike. That’s the type of response that benefits a star that will soon star in their film. Had HBO Max never greenlighted the Snyder Cut, there could have been the possibility that Whedon’s Justice League would have hurt The Flash’s image. Because 2017 was technically the last time, Miller’s Flash was on the big screen, despite his Arrowverse cameo during Crisis on Infinite Earths in 2020. Even though the Snyder Cut doesn’t directly connect to The Flash movie, it’s still a good thing that Miller has gotten critical acclaim for his performance.

Not only did he get his origin story (sort of) through the events of Justice League, but Snyder’s plans became a fundamental selling pitch for anyone who isn’t familiar with The Flash. In addition to that, the Snyder Cut gives a taste of Barry’s coming time travel and Multiverse adventures. The Flash film will do it on a bigger scale since the main arc will infuse those elements. But by demonstrating Barry using time travel to undo just a few crucial seconds, that sets up what he will and can do on a higher level in his film. If Barry can rewrite things that happened seconds ago, imagine what he can do by undoing something that happened over ten years ago.

For a big chunk of the audience, Zack Snyder’s Justice League became the first time they saw Miller as DC’s Scarlet Speedster. Given that The Flash will soon be one of the crucial characters in the DCEU, the Snyder Cut is an excellent gift for the character in the long run. Since Miller’s film won’t be an origin story, the Snyder Cut served like that. Even if the Snyderverse won’t get to continue, it’s still appreciative that The Flash movie could get this kind of boost from Zack Snyder’s Justice League.