Earlier this year, The Flash delivered a loose cinematic adaptation of the 2011 storyline Flashpoint, with Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen changing the timeline after going back in time to save his mother from being murdered. The feature arrived nearly a decade after it was officially announced as a DC Extended Universe installment, with the following years seeing it pass through the hands of multiple filmmakers. As it turns out though, back when Zack Snyder was still working on this superhero franchise, he’d intended not only for Flashpoint to be a separate movie from The Flash, but also have it factor heavily into his overall DCEU saga.
This information comes from Jay Oliva, a storyboard artist who worked on DCEU movies Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman and Justice League (both versions). Additionally, he directed the animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and lent his artistic talents to the first four seasons of The Flash TV show, so when The Flash movie started being put together, it’s understandable he was looped into the creative process. As Oliva informed Inverse, back when Rick Famuyiwa was attached to direct The Flash, the flick wasn’t supposed to be a Flashpoint adaptation, but rather lay the groundwork for this epic storyline, specifically with the yellow-garbed speedster who’s been Barry Allen’s arch-nemesis in the comics for decades, Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Professor Zoom. Oliva explained:
