I think it’s safe to say that we were knocked on our collective rears when a Flashpoint movie was announced at San Diego Comic-Con back in July. Granted, we’ve known that Warner Bros. have been keen on the idea of bringing the Scarlet Speedster to the silver screen for some time now, but an origin story was probably what we were all expecting – not an adaptation of one of DC Comics’ most definitive tales to have been produced in this decade.
For those unfamiliar, Geoff Johns’ 2011 miniseries saw the Flash go back in time to save his mother’s life. In doing so, he royally screwed up the timeline, creating a world filled with darker heroes. Eventually, he (kind of) set things right, thereby allowing DC to do a linewide reboot in the form of the New 52. And, in the time since, this arc has been quite faithfully adapted as an animated movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and served as loose inspiration for season 3 of The Flash TV series.
While no specific theatrical date has been nailed down for Flashpoint just yet, it’s starting to sound like Warner Bros. is pumping the brakes a bit as they wait for Justice League to arrive. Or at least, that’s according to the folks over at Meet the Movie Press, who revealed this week that the director search for Barry Allen’s solo film has slowed down while the studio waits to see how the aforementioned tentpole does with both critics and at the box office. Apparently, this extends to most of their future projects, as well, as they also note that both Cyborg and Man of Steel 2 are a very long ways away from happening.
Though Justice League is tracking well and looks set to be a hit – at least, based on early reactions – taking this approach makes sense. It’s also not the first time we’ve heard that Warner Bros. is in a holding pattern of sorts. True, Wonder Woman was a smashing success, but the films that came before weren’t exactly great and it’d be silly to rush into everything before arguably the most important piece of puzzle is set into place. None of this is to say that these future DCEU projects won’t end up materializing, just that if Justice League bombs, the studio may have to head back to the drawing board.
As we mentioned above, Flashpoint is yet to lock down an official release date, but DC fans can at least look forward to the launch of Justice League in November. Emerging from a storied production, during which time Zack Snyder handed over the baton to Joss Whedon, early reactions have championed it as an “epic” addition to the DC Extended Universe. Let’s just hope they’re right.
