Obviously the following story is going to get into massive spoilers for The Flash. So if you haven’t yet seen the latest DC Movies feature, and still want to remain unaware, head on over to one of our other intriguing articles.
There were a number of shocking developments at the end of The Flash that had us questioning where the dust settled in the DC Movies Multiverse. Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen returned to his original timeline… or so he thought. Because while he placed the can of tomatoes on the top shelf of the grocery store, allowing his father (Ron Livingston) to be acquitted, Barry eventually ran into Bruce Wayne, and it was George Clooney… not Ben Affleck. So the multiverse was off, and the Barry we’ve known has stopped in another universe.
What do we think this secret DC ending means? On the surface, it means to me that Warner Bros. and DC can leave Ezra Miller in that universe, and potentially recast The Flash with a different actor. Even though the reviews for The Flash were positive and Miller’s performance was largely praised, the actor’s legal issues could continue to be an issue for the studio moving forward. The Flash went through the effort of showing that the main Justice League characters – like Batman and Superman – look different in the other universes.
But one Justice League member apparently looks the exact same in every universe.
We singled out 6 things we want to see The Flash do in his first movie!
Those who stayed until the very end of The Flash credits saw a scene where Barry (Ezra Miller) and Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) emerge from a bar, and Aquaman is wasted. Barry is explaining to Aquaman what happened to him when he traveled through the multiverse, saying Batman looked different everywhere he went. And Arthur comments, “But I looked the same everywhere you went?” Which Barry confirms.
The line flies by. And in the context of the larger picture of the DC Universe of films, it creates some freedom for James Gunn and Peter Safran with regards to Jason Momoa. We already know that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is coming at the end of this year. What we don’t necessarily understand is where Arthur Curry fits into the continuity of the DC timeline. Barry exists in one timeline, where Batman is George Clooney. There’s the universe in which we started, where Ben Affleck is Batman. There’s a universe that exists that HAD a Batman played by Michael Keaton… but he died (and that was a canon event).
But in all of those universes, according to that one line of dialogue, Aquaman looks like Jason Momoa. Every time. And that means DC can keep using Momoa as Arthur Curry if they wanted to.
Now, Momoa has teased the fact that he might play a different DC character in the future. At the same time, the original Aquaman made more than a billion dollars, and if the sequel ends up matching that number, then you can guarantee that an Aquaman 3 will be added to the slate of films that Gunn and Safran have announced. And that one line of dialogue inserted into the Flash end credits scene means Momoa can stay on the table. Basically, that he HAS to stay on the table. Because it’s canon. Well played, Warner Bros. And good for Momoa.
The Flash is now in theaters, with word of a possible The Flash 2 screenplay already in the works.
