The Flash (2022)

[The Joker]

McConaughey would have been the perfect actor to have played Barry if WB had made a Flash movie back in the 2000s. Take his character from Interstellar and mix him with Jim Caviezel's character from Frequency (2000) and you've got an excellent model for how to faithfully depict the Pre-Crisis Barry Allen in a live action film.

Focusing on how Barry's heroics affect the important people in his life is the key to getting him right in a movie. Those connections are where the emotional drama comes from.

The more I think about it, the more I want to see a standalone Flash movie trilogy set in its own universe. I've got an idea for how I'd do it, taking visual and stylistic cues from old Tony Scott movies like Top Gun (1986) and Days of Thunder (1990). Like Scott's cinematographers, I'd make heavy use of neutral-density filters to imbue the sky with a moody orange overcast that threatens lightning at any moment. This would help define the look of the films.

I might even reference the soundtracks from those older movies to give the Flash score a cool yet slightly melancholy ambience.

The tone of the Flash movies should be lighter than the Batman films, but not as comedic as the MCU. They should be mostly dramatic science fiction/crime adventure films with humour used strategically and discreetly, but never at the expense of the drama (e.g. the tired MCU trope of someone saying or doing something inappropriate during a dramatic moment to get a cheap laugh from the audience and offset the tension). In general, the Flash films shouldn't be dark except when necessitated by the plot.

Another cinematic influence I'd draw from is Ron Fricke, and specifically his cinéma pur trilogy of Chronos (1985), Baraka (1992) and Samsara (2011). Fricke's breathtaking use of time-lapse photography showcases the ideal technique for conveying the passage of time in purely cinematic language. I'd fill the Flash movies with similar imagery of lightning storms over deserts, solar eclipses and racing cloudscapes. And I'd capture this footage in camera instead of creating it digitally.

I'd give the Flash an iconic and heroic musical theme to match those of Donner's Superman and Burton's Batman. I'd base it on Vangelis' Oscar-winning score for Chariots of Fire (1981).

I want to go back to this, and say that I appreciate this well thought out post about the overwhelming potential a 2000s-early 2010's Flash trilogy would have had. Especially so with the notion of it being set within itself. Only having to be preoccupied with where the story of Barry Allen as the Flash would take itself, and not so much in how well it 'fits' within a shared universe narrative. Sometimes, being self contained is a actual great benefit, rather than a falsely perceived hindrance due to it not being tied into such-and-such.

I especially like Silver's idea of a 2000's Matthew McConaughey as Barry Allen/Flash, as well as giving the trilogy a Tony Scott visual cinematography aesthetic look. Similar to Ben Affleck, I think a lot of people, had written off McConaughey by the early-to-mid 2000's as nothing more than an actor who was more comfortable doing rom coms than anything of true substance, but like Affleck, he slowly but surely turned the tide on that misinformed perception, and has proven to be quite the dramatic actor. I think if the script was strong, McConaughey could have been a very ideal cinematic Barry Allen. The Tony Scott visual cues would have been pretty outstanding, and easily could have set it apart from the Blades, X-Mens, Spider-Mans, by just it's graphicd and distinct cinematography that certainly assist the idea and notion of speed. As Silver pointed out, Top Gun and Days of Thunder's visuals set the tone, and it should be interminably constant throughout the films and trilogy.

The first film in the trilogy would be based on the Silver Age stories of Robert Kanigher, John Broome and Gardner Fox. It would have a fairly balanced and optimistic tone without veering into full comedy. Most of the classic Rogues would appear (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, Trickster, etc), with Grodd being the main villain who takes control of their minds to use them as his agents against the Flash. Barry's romance with Iris West would feature prominently, as would his relationship with Nora and Henry Allen.

The second film would be a lot darker and would take its cues from Cary Bates' Bronze Age run, and specifically the 1979-1985 period that led up to Barry's death. Reverse Flash would be the main villain, with a dominant presence similar to that of the Joker in The Dark Knight. Wally West would be introduced as Kid Flash, both Nora and Iris would be killed by Thawne, and Henry would be falsely imprisoned for his wife's murder. The movie would end with Barry sacrificing himself to stop Thawne and the teenage Wally stepping up to become the new Flash.

The final film in the trilogy would take place after a ten-year time jump, with the adult Wally now firmly established as the Flash. Halfway through the movie, Barry would emerge from the Speed Force to reclaim his mantle and settle his score with Eobard Thawne, who by now has become Black Flash. Barry would travel through time to prevent Thawne from killing Iris and Nora – without giving rise to the Flashpoint universe – and everything would be set right. This film would take its comic book influences from Mark Waid's Post-Crisis run and Geoff Johns' Rebirth storyline, and it would end the trilogy on a note of closure similar to The Dark Knight Rises. Any Rogues who didn't appear in the first two films would make appearances in this one, but Black Flash would be the central antagonist.

I like these synopsis ideas for a Flash trilogy a lot, but allow me to spit ball for a minute.

Movie #1: Agreed that the film would take much inspiration from the Silver Age stories of Robert Kanigher, Gardner Fox, and John Broome. Balanced and optimistic tone, check. To me, the film should primarily focus on Barry Allen as a character, discovering his powers, using his powers for good and becoming the Flash, and of course his romance with Iris West. With Wally appearing as a young teen, but keeping his screen time rather sparing. I like the idea of Gorilla Grodd as the main villain in the first film, especially since it was apparent that Grodd was being set up as THE Flash villain during those early Silver Age stories, but i would exclude the Rogues completely. Just to keep the film's budget in mind, I would actually hold Grodd back from making an appearance until probably the 3rd half of the film (though having Grodd make Barry's acquaintance via mind controlled humans). There, it would go balls to the wall with an invasion of Central City by Grodd's followers from Gorilla City. Personally I would make Grodd noticeably, but not overtly larger than his followers. Perhaps, even giving him distinct and glaringly deep red eyes in an effort to make him stand out as more nefarious than the other gorilla's. Barry would have his work cut out for him trying to take on a well prepared army of Grodd disciples, where he then meets Solovar. Barry initially believes he just ran into a 2nd or 3rd wave of Gorilla City invaders, and battles Solovar which ends in a stalemate. It's when Barry believes there's no way he can overcome the odds, is where Solovar reveals he's actually there with his troops to fight off Grodd's forces. Now sure, there can be some humor incorporated during all of this to lighten/break the tension of the invasion that's going on all around Central City at this point, I mean, I could see Barry saying to himself during this saying, "I'm the fastest man alive one day, and fighting an army of gorilla's the next. Life sure moves fast!" However, I agree with Silver's assessment that it shouldn't delve into continual quips and snark. Anyway, Flash, Solovar and his army team up to take down Grodd and his followers and eventually succeed. Grodd is incarcerated back into Gorilla City, and the film ends with a tender moment between Barry and Iris.

Perhaps a very quick cameo of the Reverse-Flash traveling through time to current day as a after credit stinger. Course, this would be in the 2000's where after credit scenes wasn't the norm, so it's optional.

Movie #2: Pretty much the rise of the Rogues, with Wally getting powers, learning how to deal with them via tutelage from Barry, and steadily fitting into his role as Kid Flash. I would also evoke the notion that the numbers of the Rogues are eventually just too great for Barry to realistically deal with (I would probably make it clear that Captain Cold is very sly and clever as a schemer/planner), to where Barry truly needs Wally's assistance as Kid Flash despite Barry's reluctance to get him involved. With the Reverse-Flash, I would have him appear, but only in very small doses. Keeping him rather evanescent, where he's only quickly glimpsed getting involved. Even going so far in having him briefly appear aiding the Rogues, and even Barry with Wally as well at times. Of course, all to serve his own mysterious needs and agenda, but constantly perplexing and enigmatic. The Rogues are eventually defeated, and Barry proposes to Iris.

Movie #3: The concluding chapter of the Trilogy would really jump into the speed force, the negative speed force, Eobard Thawne revealing himself to be the Reverse-Flash, traveling through time and dimensions, ect. All with the backdrop of Barry set to marry Iris, and the Reverse-Flash using his knowledge of the Flash to his sinister benefit in threatening as well as cruelly taunting all of those close to Barry. Including Wally. if there would be a dark chapter in the trilogy, this would be it. The fights between the Flash and Reverse-Flash would be visual spectacles, and in move to use 'artistic license', I would essentially merge Iris West with Fiona Webb by having her, innocently, waiting at the alter for Barry near the end of the flm (perhaps even due to Barry's insistence) all while Barry and Eobard are speed fighting across the globe, but steadily heading directly for the church. Now Snyder-like slo mo would really accentuate this, but Eobard would be mere inches away from landing the killing blow on Iris, where Barry screams, wraps his arm around Eobard's neck, and snaps it.



The Reverse-Flash is dead, and Iris goes to console Barry, but Barry realizes he's slowly now becoming apart of the speed force, and he begins saying his goodbyes to both Iris and Wally. Appearing to literally be violently dissolving right in front of them, and Barry not knowing if he may die in moments or not, tells Iris he loves her, and gives Wally a deeply inspirational talk by stating that he can be a Flash that even exceeds Barry himself. Barry appears to be ripped apart within the speed force, and disappears. Leaving Iris and Wally devastated. Slow cut to black: Sometime later, Wally and Iris are seen talking about Barry inside Iris' apartment. Giving the audience the impression that Iris will now serve as something of a spiritual moral guide to Wally. As Wally leaves, the camera slowly pans towards Iris' bedroom dresser where a framed picture of Barry and Iris during happier times sits. The film concludes with Wally, the new Flash, racing towards the camera. Internally monologuing that he will always strive to live up to the example Barry set, and that he's the fastest man alive. Cut to black. End Credits.

Just spit balling of course, but I don't know, something like that.   

[Silver Nemesis]

I especially like Silver's idea of a 2000's Matthew McConaughey as Barry Allen/Flash, as well as giving the trilogy a Tony Scott visual cinematography aesthetic look. Similar to Ben Affleck, I think a lot of people, had written off McConaughey by the early-to-mid 2000's as nothing more than an actor who was more comfortable doing rom coms than anything of true substance, but like Affleck, he slowly but surely turned the tide on that misinformed perception, and has proven to be quite the dramatic actor. I think if the script was strong, McConaughey could have been a very ideal cinematic Barry Allen.

I'm definitely guilty of underestimating those actors. I'd also add DiCaprio to the list. I couldn't stand him back in the nineties, but over the past two decades I've come to recognise his talent. In McConaughey's case, it frustrated me that he went from making serious films like Amistad to doing mostly romantic comedies for a time. Obviously he's broken out of that niche since then, and I've become more appreciative of his abilities. But yes, he would have been a terrific Barry Allen back in the 2000s. He had the right look, height and physical build, and I think he could have brought a laid back Paul Newman quality to the part that would have gelled with the whole Tony Scott approach. That could've been one seriously cool movie.

I wonder though if a Flash movie had been made in the 2000s, would it have been more likely to focus on Wally than Barry? This would presumably have been prior to Barry's return in Final Crisis (2008), back when the Mark Waid and Geoff Johns runs, both starring Wally, were considered trendier and more contemporary than any of the old Barry stories. If so, might the studio have taken an approach similar to Ant-Man whereby the movie focused on a later incarnation of the title character while still acknowledging his predecessor in a supporting role? Just as Hank Pym appeared in Ant-Man, despite the movie primarily focussing on his successor, so Barry could have appeared in flashbacks or visions in a Wally-centric film. Barry's death might have been the past trauma that haunted and motivated Wally throughout the movie.

A good basis for a Wally Flash film might have been The Return of Barry Allen (1993). That story would position Wally as the hero while also heavily referencing Barry's past adventures and capitalising on Professor Zoom as the main villain. As a Barry fanboy, I'd obviously prefer a trilogy of Flash films focusing on him, but if hypothetically we were limiting ourselves to a standalone Wally Flash film made in the 2000s then an adaptation of The Return of Barry Allen might have been the way to go.

Movie #1: Agreed that the film would take much inspiration from the Silver Age stories of Robert Kanigher, Gardner Fox, and John Broome. Balanced and optimistic tone, check. To me, the film should primarily focus on Barry Allen as a character, discovering his powers, using his powers for good and becoming the Flash, and of course his romance with Iris West. With Wally appearing as a young teen, but keeping his screen time rather sparing. I like the idea of Gorilla Grodd as the main villain in the first film, especially since it was apparent that Grodd was being set up as THE Flash villain during those early Silver Age stories, but i would exclude the Rogues completely. Just to keep the film's budget in mind, I would actually hold Grodd back from making an appearance until probably the 3rd half of the film (though having Grodd make Barry's acquaintance via mind controlled humans). There, it would go balls to the wall with an invasion of Central City by Grodd's followers from Gorilla City. Personally I would make Grodd noticeably, but not overtly larger than his followers. Perhaps, even giving him distinct and glaringly deep red eyes in an effort to make him stand out as more nefarious than the other gorilla's. Barry would have his work cut out for him trying to take on a well prepared army of Grodd disciples, where he then meets Solovar. Barry initially believes he just ran into a 2nd or 3rd wave of Gorilla City invaders, and battles Solovar which ends in a stalemate. It's when Barry believes there's no way he can overcome the odds, is where Solovar reveals he's actually there with his troops to fight off Grodd's forces. Now sure, there can be some humor incorporated during all of this to lighten/break the tension of the invasion that's going on all around Central City at this point, I mean, I could see Barry saying to himself during this saying, "I'm the fastest man alive one day, and fighting an army of gorilla's the next. Life sure moves fast!" However, I agree with Silver's assessment that it shouldn't delve into continual quips and snark. Anyway, Flash, Solovar and his army team up to take down Grodd and his followers and eventually succeed. Grodd is incarcerated back into Gorilla City, and the film ends with a tender moment between Barry and Iris.

I'm convinced Grodd could work in live action, especially after the superb Plant of the Apes prequel trilogy we got in the last decade. A Flash movie featuring Grodd would essentially be like Rise of the Planet of Apes if Caesar had been portrayed as an evil megalomaniac. As for who could have portrayed Grodd, there's only one man for the job.

Yes, it's typecasting. But is there anyone better at playing primates than Serkis? Even before he portrayed Kong in the 2005 movie, he'd already incorporated certain simian mannerisms into his performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Ring trilogy. Serkis as Grodd versus McConaughey's Flash would have been great. And for Reverse Flash, how about Damian Lewis? He's about the same age as McConaughey and is only an inch or two taller than him. In costume, they'd have looked evenly matched.

The fights between the Flash and Reverse-Flash would be visual spectacles, and in move to use 'artistic license', I would essentially merge Iris West with Fiona Webb by having her, innocently, waiting at the alter for Barry near the end of the flm (perhaps even due to Barry's insistence) all while Barry and Eobard are speed fighting across the globe, but steadily heading directly for the church. Now Snyder-like slo mo would really accentuate this, but Eobard would be mere inches away from landing the killing blow on Iris, where Barry screams, wraps his arm around Eobard's neck, and snaps it.

I like this idea. One thing that's always bothered me about Barry's storyline is how the writers completely disregarded Fiona following the Trial of the Flash arc. Barry was meant to be in love with her. He was even going to marry her. Then, after Zoom ruined their wedding, poor Fiona was more or less abandoned by Barry, went insane and ended up being committed to a mental hospital. Nowadays she hardly ever gets mentioned, similar to how the modern Daredevil comics tend to overlook the fact that Matt Murdock has an ex-wife locked away in a psychiatric hospital. But at least Milla does sometimes get referenced in the Daredevil comics, and Matt has written to her on occasion, whereas Barry just turned his back on Fiona and she's been largely forgotten ever since.

Amalgamating Fiona and Iris into a single person would give the former character a chance for closure that she never received in the comics. It would also streamline and condense the two attacks by Reverse Flash into a single event that would keep comic fans guessing about the outcome. Would Zoom succeed in killing Barry's bride, as in the case of Iris, or would the Flash stop him, as in the case of Fiona?

The Reverse-Flash is dead, and Iris goes to console Barry, but Barry realizes he's slowly now becoming apart of the speed force, and he begins saying his goodbyes to both Iris and Wally. Appearing to literally be violently dissolving right in front of them, and Barry not knowing if he may die in moments or not, tells Iris he loves her, and gives Wally a deeply inspirational talk by stating that he can be a Flash that even exceeds Barry himself. Barry appears to be ripped apart within the speed force, and disappears. Leaving Iris and Wally devastated. Slow cut to black: Sometime later, Wally and Iris are seen talking about Barry inside Iris' apartment. Giving the audience the impression that Iris will now serve as something of a spiritual moral guide to Wally. As Wally leaves, the camera slowly pans towards Iris' bedroom dresser where a framed picture of Barry and Iris during happier times sits. The film concludes with Wally, the new Flash, racing towards the camera. Internally monologuing that he will always strive to live up to the example Barry set, and that he's the fastest man alive. Cut to black. End Credits.

Just spit balling of course, but I don't know, something like that.   

If we're talking about a Flash trilogy made in the 2000s, contemporaneous with something like Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, then your idea for the final entry would work better than mine. My third film concept was based on later comics published after Barry's return, so obviously that material would have been off limits throughout most of the 2000s. At any rate, the ideas put forward in this thread have demonstrated that you could theoretically condense the most important aspects of Barry Allen's history into a neat cinematic trilogy. There are a few things we left out, like Jay Garrick and Ralph Dibny, but they could be added to the mix without too much difficulty.

[The Joker]

I'm definitely guilty of underestimating those actors. I'd also add DiCaprio to the list. I couldn't stand him back in the nineties, but over the past two decades I've come to recognise his talent. In McConaughey's case, it frustrated me that he went from making serious films like Amistad to doing mostly romantic comedies for a time. Obviously he's broken out of that niche since then, and I've become more appreciative of his abilities. But yes, he would have been a terrific Barry Allen back in the 2000s. He had the right look, height and physical build, and I think he could have brought a laid back Paul Newman quality to the part that would have gelled with the whole Tony Scott approach. That could've been one seriously cool movie.

I know what you mean. I pretty much avoided Leonardo Dicaprio until The Departed (Jack Nicholson being directed by Martin Scorsese? There was no way in hell I was going to miss that movie!). Affleck, I was kinda indifferent on, until Hollywoodland. Which, coincidentally, also came out in 2006. Took a little longer to take notice of McConaughey as an actor, but it was there all along.

I wonder though if a Flash movie had been made in the 2000s, would it have been more likely to focus on Wally than Barry? This would presumably have been prior to Barry's return in Final Crisis (2008), back when the Mark Waid and Geoff Johns runs, both starring Wally, were considered trendier and more contemporary than any of the old Barry stories. If so, might the studio have taken an approach similar to Ant-Man whereby the movie focused on a later incarnation of the title character while still acknowledging his predecessor in a supporting role? Just as Hank Pym appeared in Ant-Man, despite the movie primarily focussing on his successor, so Barry could have appeared in flashbacks or visions in a Wally-centric film. Barry's death might have been the past trauma that haunted and motivated Wally throughout the movie.

Good question. I tend to think that, especially back in the early-mid 2000's, Hollywood would have just went with the idea of merging Barry and Wally together as much as possible (kinda like Chris O'Donnell's Robin taking influences from not just solely Dick Grayson), rather than try and establish that there was a Flash in the past, and now here's the present version (ala Ant-Man). I think the MCU could get away with that by the time Ant-Man was released, but that scenario might have been viewed as a bridge too far back in the 2000's in a self contained Flash trilogy of films that doesn't have the 'shared universe' crutch, and exclusively designed to introduce that character to the masses....

A good basis for a Wally Flash film might have been The Return of Barry Allen (1993). That story would position Wally as the hero while also heavily referencing Barry's past adventures and capitalising on Professor Zoom as the main villain. As a Barry fanboy, I'd obviously prefer a trilogy of Flash films focusing on him, but if hypothetically we were limiting ourselves to a standalone Wally Flash film made in the 2000s then an adaptation of The Return of Barry Allen might have been the way to go.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I kinda kept that "Return of Barry Allen" story in the back of my head when I was giving out treatments for a 2000's Flash series of films. McConaughey could have taken a break from the Flash following the 3rd film, and whoever playing Wally would of course be up front and center for a 4th Flash film. I don't know whether I would pull the trigger on the "Return of Barry Allen" story with the 5th or 6th Flash film (essentially the Wally West trilogy), but it definitely would have been in there somewhere. In the grand scheme of things, something like that might have enticed McConaughey into returning to the Flash franchise (if theoretically he was playing hard ball on returning), as it would give him the opportunity to play "Barry Allen" in a different light.   

I'm convinced Grodd could work in live action, especially after the superb Plant of the Apes prequel trilogy we got in the last decade. A Flash movie featuring Grodd would essentially be like Rise of the Planet of Apes if Caesar had been portrayed as an evil megalomaniac. As for who could have portrayed Grodd, there's only one man for the job.

Yes, it's typecasting. But is there anyone better at playing primates than Serkis? Even before he portrayed Kong in the 2005 movie, he'd already incorporated certain simian mannerisms into his performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Ring trilogy. Serkis as Grodd versus McConaughey's Flash would have been great.

Oh, no doubt about it. 

And for Reverse Flash, how about Damian Lewis? He's about the same age as McConaughey and is only an inch or two taller than him. In costume, they'd have looked evenly matched.

Not a bad choice. I kinda think a 2000's Viggo Mortensen could have played a cinematic Reverse-Flash convincingly as well. Both Damian and Viggo undeniably have the on screen charisma to make Prof Zoom a memorable villain.

One thing that's always bothered me about Barry's storyline is how the writers completely disregarded Fiona following the Trial of the Flash arc. Barry was meant to be in love with her. He was even going to marry her. Then, after Zoom ruined their wedding, poor Fiona was more or less abandoned by Barry, went insane and ended up being committed to a mental hospital. Nowadays she hardly ever gets mentioned, similar to how the modern Daredevil comics tend to overlook the fact that Matt Murdock has an ex-wife locked away in a psychiatric hospital. But at least Milla does sometimes get referenced in the Daredevil comics, and Matt has written to her on occasion, whereas Barry just turned his back on Fiona and she's been largely forgotten ever since.

Yeah, it's kinda/sorta like the Cyclops/Madelyne Pryor deal over in the X-Men books back in the '80's. Originally, I think the idea was that Cyclops, following Jean's death, would meet a human woman, who looked remarkably like Jean, settle down, and basically become a reserve member of the X-Men. Once Jean returned, I think the writers actually had Scott abandoning his family to be with Jean again, and it really didn't paint Scott Summers in a good light. Then, you got the business of retconning Madelyne as a clone of Jean, becoming the Goblin Queen, yada yada yada. Maybe it's best Fiona has been left alone ever since "The Trial" arc considering what DC might do to her (ala Nora Fries as Lazara. Which was laughable).

Amalgamating Fiona and Iris into a single person would give the former character a chance for closure that she never received in the comics. It would also streamline and condense the two attacks by Reverse Flash into a single event that would keep comic fans guessing about the outcome. Would Zoom succeed in killing Barry's bride, as in the case of Iris, or would the Flash stop him, as in the case of Fiona?

True. It's like the Mary Jane/Gwen deal in 2002's Spider-Man to some extent. Admittedly, I was drawing from that with Iris/Fiona.

If we're talking about a Flash trilogy made in the 2000s, contemporaneous with something like Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, then your idea for the final entry would work better than mine. My third film concept was based on later comics published after Barry's return, so obviously that material would have been off limits throughout most of the 2000s. At any rate, the ideas put forward in this thread have demonstrated that you could theoretically condense the most important aspects of Barry Allen's history into a neat cinematic trilogy. There are a few things we left out, like Jay Garrick and Ralph Dibny, but they could be added to the mix without too much difficulty.

Yeah, I'm sure there would have been liberties taken with the history/continuity with a 2000's Flash trilogy, resulting in the cinematic Flash that discernibly differentiates itself from the comic version. However, as you call forth, the material is all there, it's just a matter of how it's adapted.

[thecolorsblend]

A good basis for a Wally Flash film might have been The Return of Barry Allen (1993). That story would position Wally as the hero while also heavily referencing Barry's past adventures and capitalising on Professor Zoom as the main villain. As a Barry fanboy, I'd obviously prefer a trilogy of Flash films focusing on him, but if hypothetically we were limiting ourselves to a standalone Wally Flash film made in the 2000s then an adaptation of The Return of Barry Allen might have been the way to go.

I spent most of junior high and all of high school daydreaming about a series of Flash movies.

The idea I eventually settled on was to constantly keep Jay Garrick on the periphery as a supporting character, mentor for Barry and grandfather figure for Wally. Basically, Jay could be the connective tissue holding the various movies together similar to what Michael Gough did as Alfred.

In terms of characterizations, I thought it best to adapt Barry more or less in his Pre-Crisis mold. He's straight laced, honest and sincere. If he needs to have a flaw of some type, I thought it best that he be portrayed as overconfident at times. Nothing fatal to his character. But at the same time, I don't want to see Barry played as a screwup that somebody always has to slap back into line.

From there, you could introduce Wally in Barry Flash I (ideally use Kobra as the villain), give him powers in Barry Flash II, set him up as Kid Flash in Barry Flash III (where Barry somehow gets sucked into the Speed Force) and then set him up as headliner of his own movie series in Wally Flash I.

And yes, Wally Flash I could easily be based on The Return Of Barry Allen. Sprinkling in elements of the first year or so of the Mike Baron run also seems like a no-brainer.

After that, you've got plenty of options based on comic book storylines. But for Wally Flash III, my move would be adapting Terminal Velocity... but tweak it to where Wally brings Barry back with him from the Speed Force in the big climactic showdown with Kobra (to tie back in with Barry Flash I).

...

Man, I gave this stuff a LOT of thought as a teenager!

[Gotham Knight]

Potential spoilers for Flash: This one I think is accurate. Mostly first act stuff.

[thecolorsblend]

"Quicksilver", "felt like a Marvel movie", "Batman almost [dies]... but Wonder Woman saves the day".

fml

[Gotham Knight]

Potential spoilers for Flash: This one I think is accurate. Mostly first act stuff.

This has been corroborated by other reliable sources now. Barry and his attempted alterations are booted IE rejected from the Snyderverse(Earth Prime). A new parallel world (Earth-2), a conglomeration of variant histories (the main ones being Supergirl Variant x Burton Batman Variant x DCEU variant) is created. This is the word Barry is now stuck on and must save.

[Silver Nemesis]

I tend to think that, especially back in the early-mid 2000's, Hollywood would have just went with the idea of merging Barry and Wally together as much as possible (kinda like Chris O'Donnell's Robin taking influences from not just solely Dick Grayson), rather than try and establish that there was a Flash in the past, and now here's the present version (ala Ant-Man).

I was glad the Batchlers acknowledged that about Robin. I like O'Donnell's Robin, but if you view him solely as the Dick Grayson of the comics then he's obviously a very flawed reflection of the character in the source material. However, if you recognise the influence of Todd and Drake, then O'Donnell's iteration is a reasonably satisfying composite of the three Robins that had existed up until that point (not counting Elseworld Robins like Carrie Kelley). Same goes For John Wesley Shipp's Flash. I rate him as the best live action Flash so far, but his characterisation is almost as indebted to the Wally Flash of the Post-Crisis comics as he is to the Pre-Crisis Barry. But it worked at the time. And I can see WB doing something similar in the 2000s.

Not a bad choice. I kinda think a 2000's Viggo Mortensen could have played a cinematic Reverse-Flash convincingly as well. Both Damian and Viggo undeniably have the on screen charisma to make Prof Zoom a memorable villain.

I hadn't considered Viggo, but he could certainly have worked as Thawne. He's more than a decade older than McConaughey, but he was in good physical shape back in the 2000s and was roughly the same height as McConaughey. He obviously had the acting talent too. A Flash film of that era would have coincided with the peak years of Mortensen's career, around the time he made The Lord of the Rings trilogy, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Definitely a good casting choice for Reverse Flash.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I kinda kept that "Return of Barry Allen" story in the back of my head when I was giving out treatments for a 2000's Flash series of films. McConaughey could have taken a break from the Flash following the 3rd film, and whoever playing Wally would of course be up front and center for a 4th Flash film. I don't know whether I would pull the trigger on the "Return of Barry Allen" story with the 5th or 6th Flash film (essentially the Wally West trilogy), but it definitely would have been in there somewhere. In the grand scheme of things, something like that might have enticed McConaughey into returning to the Flash franchise (if theoretically he was playing hard ball on returning), as it would give him the opportunity to play "Barry Allen" in a different light.   

The idea I eventually settled on was to constantly keep Jay Garrick on the periphery as a supporting character, mentor for Barry and grandfather figure for Wally. Basically, Jay could be the connective tissue holding the various movies together similar to what Michael Gough did as Alfred.

In terms of characterizations, I thought it best to adapt Barry more or less in his Pre-Crisis mold. He's straight laced, honest and sincere. If he needs to have a flaw of some type, I thought it best that he be portrayed as overconfident at times. Nothing fatal to his character. But at the same time, I don't want to see Barry played as a screwup that somebody always has to slap back into line.

From there, you could introduce Wally in Barry Flash I (ideally use Kobra as the villain), give him powers in Barry Flash II, set him up as Kid Flash in Barry Flash III (where Barry somehow gets sucked into the Speed Force) and then set him up as headliner of his own movie series in Wally Flash I.

And yes, Wally Flash I could easily be based on The Return Of Barry Allen. Sprinkling in elements of the first year or so of the Mike Baron run also seems like a no-brainer.

After that, you've got plenty of options based on comic book storylines. But for Wally Flash III, my move would be adapting Terminal Velocity... but tweak it to where Wally brings Barry back with him from the Speed Force in the big climatic showdown with Kobra (to tie back in with Barry Flash I).

Reading these ideas, I'm beginning to think a six-film Flash series might have been achievable. Three movies starring Barry, followed by three with Wally, with Jay popping up intermittently throughout the hexalogy. A six-film Flash saga might have been the most epic cinematic superhero franchise ever, though it would have been extremely hard to sustain a consistent level of quality across all six films.

This discussion has got me thinking about how I'd handle Superman in a self-contained movie trilogy. I've got a lot of ideas on that front, but such a discussion is probably best saved for a new thread.

[thecolorsblend]

This discussion has got me thinking about how I'd handle Superman in a self-contained movie trilogy. I've got a lot of ideas on that front, but such a discussion is probably best saved for a new thread.

Start it. I've got ideas of my own.

[eledoremassis02]

Potential spoilers for Flash: This one I think is accurate. Mostly first act stuff.

This has been corroborated by other reliable sources now. Barry and his attempted alterations are booted IE rejected from the Snyderverse(Earth Prime). A new parallel world (Earth-2), a conglomeration of variant histories (the main ones being Supergirl Variant x Burton Batman Variant x DCEU variant) is created. This is the word Barry is now stuck on and must save.

This is backed up also by the gotham globe (89) exisiting in the Batgirl film.