Why you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘The Flash’ introduces the DCU’s new Batman

With the release of the new DC film The Flash, it begs the question: did the movie just introduce us to the franchise’s new Batman?

Warning: spoilers ahead for The Flash.

In The Flash, the time-traveling antics of Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen result in creating alternative timelines that create different versions of Batman than what he was used to. For instance, even though his original universe has a Ben Affleck version of Batman, after the red blur goes back in time to try and save his mother, it results in the Michael Keaton iteration of the caped crusader existing instead.

At the end of the film, Barry almost makes everything right again, except he can’t resist changing one little thing to save his dad. This results in Batman changing once again so that instead of Affleck or Keaton, we get the George Clooney iteration of Batman from 1997’s infamous flop Batman & Robin. It’s a pretty strange cliffhanger ending, but can this be considered the official direction that the new DC Universe is taking?

On the one hand, DC Studios’ Co-CEO James Gunn has said The Flash would be the jumping-off point for the rebooted DC universe, leaving behind the old DC Extended Universe that was established by director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and its sequels.

As Gunn explained in his initial announcements of upcoming DCU projects, The Flash “resets the entire DC Universe.”

One interpretation of Gunn’s words and the Clooney cameo would be that the Burn After Reading star might actually be the in-canon Batman of the DCU from this point on. After all, Gunn has already announced that Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a new DC movie in the works, with The Flash director Andy Muschietti set to helm it. In the upcoming movie, Batman has a son, Damian Wayne, who becomes the Robin of that universe. Having an older Batman who already has a son would make sense for Clooney to play, on the surface. But there are a few different reasons why I personally don’t think Clooney will actually be the new DCU Batman going forward.

My interpretation of the Clooney cameo in The Flash was that it was simply a fun little Easter egg and won’t actually amount to anything going forward. After all, Batman & Robin went down in history as one of the worst-received films in the franchise — amongst critics and fans alike — and arguably stalled any Dark Knight movies coming to theaters for several years. It wouldn’t be until 2005’s Batman Begins that we finally saw another Batman movie come to the screen, with Christian Bale portraying the role. So it probably wouldn’t really make sense — from a business standpoint — for Warner Bros. to bring Clooney back as the headlining actor.

What’s more, Gunn has also clarified to a fan on Instagram (via ScreenRant) that “Flash resets many things, not all things. Some characters remain the same some do not.”

If anything, the Clooney cameo merely cements the fact that the DCEU will firmly be placed in the dustbin — for the most part — in my interpretation. That is, besides the few actors who will carry over in the same roles in the DCU, such as Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. 

All of this means that the casting for DCU’s Batman for The Brave and the Bold is still in the works as we speak, in all likelihood. Outside of the mainline franchise, Matt Reeves’ The Batman — starring Robert Pattinson — will continue to exist in subsequent film installments under the Elseworlds umbrella.