The Flash (film)

The Flash is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / The Flash. Directed by Andy Muschietti from a screenplay by Christina Hodson and a story by the writing team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein alongside Joby Harold, it is the 13th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Ezra Miller stars as Barry Allen, who travels back in time to prevent his mother's death and becomes stranded in an alternate past. Sasha Calle also stars in her film debut, alongside Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, and Michael Keaton. Barbara Muschietti and Michael Disco produced the film for DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Development on a film featuring the Flash began in the late 1980s, with various iterations planned through 2014, when it was redeveloped for the DCEU and Miller was cast. Multiple writers and directors were attached over the following years, with Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, Daley, and Goldstein all departing the project over creative differences with the studios. Muschietti and Hodson became involved in July 2019, and pre-production began in January 2020. Influenced by the 2011 comic book storyline Flashpoint, the film explores the multiverse and features other DC characters, such as Calle's Supergirl and multiple versions of Batman, particularly Keaton's portrayal from the films Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), while others were digitally included. Filming lasted from April to October 2021 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and on location throughout the United Kingdom. The film's ending was altered several times during post-production due to changes in DC's wider plans under different studio leadership.

The Flash premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 12, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 16, following multiple delays caused by the director changes and the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its humor, action sequences, and performances, but criticized the visual effects and third act. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $271.4 million worldwide against a budget of $200–220 million. Its box office performance was attributed to factors such as Miller's legal issues and controversies, the franchise's imminent reboot with the DC Universe (DCU), superhero fatigue, and the film's mixed reception and marketing practices.

Plot

After helping Bruce Wayne / Batman and Diana Prince / Wonder Woman stop a robbery in Gotham City, Barry Allen / The Flash revisits his childhood home, where he lived with his parents Nora and Henry, before Henry's wrongful imprisonment for Nora's murder. On the day of her death, Nora sent Henry to pick up groceries she forgot to buy, leaving her alone in the kitchen where she was killed by an unidentified assailant. Overcome by emotions, Barry accidentally uses the Speed Force to travel back in time to earlier that day. Returning to the present, he discusses the incident with Bruce, who warns of the unintended consequences of time travel. Despite this, Barry travels to the day of Nora's death and places the missing groceries in Nora's cart to prevent Henry from leaving the house. As he returns to the present, Barry is attacked by an unknown speedster and emerges in an alternate 2013 where Nora is alive. He encounters his parents and his past self, and realizes this is the day he was struck by lightning and obtained his powers.

The two Barrys go to the Central City Police Department, where Barry reenacts the event so 2013-Barry can gain his powers. Both are struck by lightning, granting 2013-Barry powers but leaving Barry without his own. As Barry struggles to train his younger self on properly using his powers, the Barrys learn that General Zod is preparing to invade Earth. To fight Zod, the Barrys attempt to assemble the Justice League but are unsuccessful; in this timeline, Diana cannot be located, Victor Stone has not gained his abilities yet, and Arthur Curry never existed. They travel to Wayne Manor, hoping to find Bruce, but they instead find an alternate version who has long retired. Bruce theorizes that altering history through time travel affects events both before and after the alteration, causing several realities to collapse into a single one. They convince Bruce to return as Batman and help them find Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman.

The Barrys and Bruce locate a Kryptonian pod discovered in Siberia. Upon arrival, they instead find Kal-El's cousin, Kara Zor-El, imprisoned in the facility. They rescue Kara and return to Wayne Manor, where Barry enlists Bruce's help to regain his powers. The first two attempts fail, prompting Kara to fly Barry into a storm, where he regains his powers. Kara, Bruce, and the Barrys fight Zod and his forces. Kara learns that Zod intercepted Kal-El's escape pod from Krypton and, in an attempt to extract the Codex needed to repopulate the Kryptonian species, killed him. Zod reveals that the Codex is actually within Kara before subduing and killing her, extracting the Codex from her blood. Meanwhile, Bruce sacrifices himself in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy Zod's ship. The Barrys repeatedly time-travel to save Bruce and Kara, but keep failing. Barry realizes the sequence of events cannot be changed, but 2013-Barry keeps trying, which causes the multiverse to begin imploding.

The unknown speedster who initially knocked Barry out of the Speed Force returns and is revealed to be an older, future version of 2013-Barry who still believes he can defeat Zod and save his Earth. Barry decides to reverse the changes he made to the timeline by letting Nora die. The elder 2013-Barry attempts to kill Barry to stop him, but young 2013-Barry sacrifices himself and is impaled instead, causing the elder 2013-Barry to fade from existence. Barry reverts the timeline and comes to terms with his mother's death; however, he subtly alters the past by moving the groceries to a higher shelf. Returning to the present day, Barry attends Henry's court hearing, where the security footage now reveals Henry's previously obscured face at the grocery store, verifying his alibi and allowing his exoneration. Barry is then contacted by Bruce, whose appearance has changed once again due to the timeline alteration.