Understanding how Flash travels through time is fundamental to appreciating The Flash movie as the popular DC Comics character finally gets a standalone feature film. The Flash, aka Barry Allen, has appeared in numerous media, from TV shows to movies in the DC Extended Universe. However, Andy Muschietti’s The Flash (2023) marks the first time the speedster takes the lead in a movie that revolves around him. As the live-action film rolls out in movie theaters worldwide, it promises to reward the patience of superhero fans waiting for a Flash movie since the late 80s.
Warner Bros. first embraced the idea of a film focusing on Flash sometime in the late 1980s. But nothing substantial materialized until the mid-2000s. American filmmaker David S. Goyer was brought in to write, produce, and direct the movie meant to focus on Wally West‘s Flash. Goyer wanted Ryan Reynolds for the role but eventually abandoned the project in February 2007 due to creative differences. While the proposed Flash film was further delayed for several reasons, the character debuted in the DC Extended Universe. This was in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of Justice (2016). Ezra Miller reprised the character that same year in Suicide Squad; and then in Justice League (2017) and its director’s cut, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021).
The Flash Is Able To Time Travel Thanks To His Speed
The trailer for The Flash promised time travel would be significant to the plot of the movie, and when released, the movie delivered on that promise. From Jay Garrick to Barry Allen and Wally West, the three men known as Flash derive their power from an energy field called the Speed Force. Typically, this force grants extraordinary speed ability to heroes who use their superhuman powers to protect and defend humanity. Like other superheroes, Barry Allen has a unique origin story. He gained his godlike abilities while working as a forensic investigator. Allen’s slow-paced nature, which often irritates people close to him, changed on a fateful night while working on a case.
Following a lightning bolt that knocked him out and spilled some chemicals on him, Barry Allen recovers to discover he has gained superpowers. Having resolved to put his new-found powers to good use, he names himself Flash and takes up the responsibility of fighting crime in Central City. On account of his super speed, Allen has mastery over time. He can time travel to different eras and into other dimensions.
Barry Allen Goes on A Mutliversal Time Travel Adventure in ‘The Flash’
Barry Allen’s time-traveling ability is the principal premise upon which Muschietti’s movie is built. In DC Comics, the superhero first traveled through time in Showcase #4 (1956) when he took Madzen back to the 50th century. Secret Origins Annual #2 (1987) introduced an alternative story to the origin of Allen’s power, proffering he traveled back in time to become the lightning bolt that made him a superhero. This inference captures the complexities of Flash’s time-traveling adventures, and it comes to play in The Flash.
The movie follows Barry Allen as he travels back in time to prevent a personal tragedy. As seen in the movie trailer and the comic books, Barry changes present-day reality when he time travels and stops his mother’s death. Returning to the present, he finds himself in an alternate 2013 where he loses his power and learns his action has rid the world of its superheroes. As the multiverse begins to collapse, Allen must race through time to undo the changes to the timeline and save the future. The Flash stars Ezra Miller in the titular role alongside Sasha Calle’s Supergirl and Michael Shannon’s General Zod. It also features a variety of DCEU characters, including Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and Ben Affleck’s/Michael Keaton’s Batman.
How Flashpoint Inspired Its Reality-Changing Trip Back In Time
By and large, The Flash dwells on Barry Allen’s timeline chicanery and its extensive consequences on the multiverse. The movie actually draws heavily from the Flashpoint comic book, as eased in the trailer, to depict the superhero’s stunts with time. First published in May 2011, Flashpoint parallels an altered universe to the main timeline with Barry Allen at the center of both worlds.
In Flashpoint, the speedster wakes to a world of alternate realities; everything has changed, with a ruinous war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman posing further threats. As he is inclined to protect humanity, he sets out to find who altered the timeline to save the day. However, in The Flash film, Allen himself triggers the changes to the world when he travels back in time to prevent his mother’s death.
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