DCEU Was Originally Set to Be Rebooted with a ‘Flashpoint’ Movie!!

Earlier this summer, The Flash finally raced into theaters, which DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn teased would “reset” the DC Universe. The film took inspiration from the 2011 comic book storyline Flashpoint, where Barry Allen changed reality by going back in time to save his mother. Although the DC Extended Universe has significantly changed since it was launched in 2013 with Man of Steel, the original plan for the franchise was for it to be rebooted with a Flashpoint movie. In an interview with Inverse, storyboard artist Jay Oliva talked about the original plan for a Flashpoint adaptation.

Along with storyboarding multiple DCEU films, Oliva has also directed several animated DC films, including the 2013 Flashpoint adaptation Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. In the interview, Oliva revealed that the original DCEU plan was for a Flashpoint movie to come after director Zack Snyder finished telling his planned Justice League story. “At the ending of Zack‘s Darkseid quadrilogy, or whatever, we would end up with a Justice League Unlimited version of the Snyder-verse,” said Oliva. “And then you flip it. You do Flashpoint Paradox. Everybody who’s friends are now enemies, and it’s a world that you don’t want to live in. You can reboot the universe and introduce a new cast that way. Because after 10 years, the actors need to go onto something else.” In the comic books, the Flashpoint storyline led to The New 52 reboot of the DC Universe. The end of Oliva‘s 2013 animated adaptation also led to the birth of the DC Animated Movie Universe, which began with 2014’s Justice League: War, which he also directed.

Oliva also talked about how one of the previous versions of The Flash movie was going to introduce one of the big villains of the DCEU. Before Andy Muschietti took over, Rick Famuyiwa was one of several directors that had been hired for the film. Famuyiwa‘s version of the movie, which wasn’t based on Flashpoint, was going to set up Barry Allen’s archenemy: Professor Zoom, also known as the Reverse-Flash.

“Rick‘s movie was laying the groundwork for Zoom as the big baddy of the DC Universe,” said Oliva. “It was Professor Zoom pulling the strings because he had come from the future to basically f*ck with Barry. In the Flash movies, Zoom would be the villain in the background. But also in the ancillary other films, you would see some of the influences of Zoom on the rest of the Justice League.” Although the villain did not appear in the final film, the Reverse-Flash had a similar type of role in the first season of The CW‘s The Flash television series, where the character was played by Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher.

The Future of the DC Universe on the Big Screen

Although The Flash movie didn’t end with the universe being rebooted, a new era for DC on the big screen is about to begin. A new version of Superman/Clark Kent will be introduced in Gunn’s 2025 film Superman: Legacy, played by David Corenswet. A new movie version of Batman will also be introduced in the upcoming film The Brave and the Bold, which will be directed by Muschietti. The other upcoming films are The Authority, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing.

Oliva‘s 2013 Flashpoint adaptation, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, is currently available to stream on Max. A trailer for the film can be watched below: