Against all the odds, The Flash is now one of the internet’s most anticipated movies of 2023 following the Super Bowl trailer that blew the DC fandom’s socks off. But while there’s renewed enthusiasm to see Michael Keaton’s grand return as Batman (even if there’s the slight chance that he’s not really the Dark Knight we know) and Sasha Calle’s debut as Supergirl (however short-lived her tenure as the character may be), Ezra Miller‘s involvement with the DCU is still something of a downer for many.
In a move that’s surprised everyone who expected Miller’s legal troubles to mark the end of their time as the Scarlet Speedster, James Gunn and Peter Safran have indicated that they’d be willing to work with the actor again in the future. Needless to say, though, that The Flash franchise might be one case where the fans actually want Gunn to reboot a Snyderverse character. And if he does, then he should definitely use this opportunity to showcase one of DC’s most unfairly overlooked heroes: Wally West.
As Redditor ChamarMoore pitched on the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit, replacing Miller’s Barry Allen with Wally West, his successor in the comics, could be the breath of fresh air the Scarlet Speedster needs.
Traditionally, Barry is the more mature of the Flashes with Wally as the inexperienced jokester, but seeing as Miller’s Mr. Allen has borrowed from that depiction anyway it would make sense for the DCU’s Wally to be portrayed as a family man, joined by his wife Linda Park and their children, Irey and Jai West.
We’ll likely have to wait until the dust has settled on The Flash movie’s release this June 16 before we can find out if there’s hope for the West family to enter the DCU. But switching Barry out for Wally would definitely solve one of James Gunn’s big problems in a… well, you get it.
