The Flash Will Feature A Major Superman Villain, Our Scoop Confirmed
After seeing a teaser trailer that featured not only Ben Affleck's Batman, but the return of Michael Keaton's older Bruce Wayne, it's hard to imagine that The Flash could fit in much more star power.
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The upcoming Flash movie from Warner Bros. just keeps getting bigger. After seeing a teaser trailer that featured not only Ben Affleck’s Batman, but the return of Michael Keaton’s older Bruce Wayne, it’s hard to imagine that The Flash could fit in much more star power. But it looks like Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen will have plenty to go up against, including the return of a major Superman villain.
Previously, Giant Freakin Robot exclusively reported that General Zod would be in The Flash. At the time, we had no confirmation if Michael Shannon would be reprising his role. Now our scoop is officially confirmed, with Michael Shannon being added to The Flash cast list. This is huge news for an already star-studded cast. If you recall from 2013’s Man of Steel, this character was controversially killed by Henry Cavill’s Superman. As a paragon of virtue, many fans found this to be way out of character for Clark Kent. Still, the movie was generally liked amongst Superman fans, especially when compared to later DC movie outings.
So, if Michael Shannon’s General Zod died in the first movie, how is he returning here? Classic comic-book multiverse shenanigans of course! The Flash will be based on the Flashpoint storyline in the comics where Barry Allen/The Flash goes on a time-traveling mission that has multiversal consequences. This means that it might not be the same version of General Zod we saw in Man of Steel, even though he looks the same. Though, since time travel is involved, it’s possible that it could be a younger version of the same character. It might even give Warner Bros. a chance to retcon that controversial decision and save Zod from perishing at the hands of Superman!
In the comics, there’s a lot going on in the Flashpoint storyline. Barry Allen’s meddling ends up changing the destiny of many characters. In the new universe that is created, Superman no longer exists, Bruce Wayne was murdered instead of his parents, and Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at war. The Flash could use all, some, or none of these plot points. One thing is clear, it’s sure to be an interesting ride and we’ll likely be seeing a side of the DC Universe we haven’t seen before.
The Flash is also packed to the brim with characters, which makes sense when you factor in the time travel and multiverse elements. The Flash will include the aforementioned Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Michael Shannon as General Zod. It will also co-star Sasha Calle as Supergirl, Ron Livingston as Henry Allen, Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, and Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry (Aquaman’s dad). The Flash is directed by Andy Muschietti.
The Flash was originally scheduled to be released in June of 2021, but COVID-19 pushed the new release date to November 4, 2022. Pending any major changes, you can expect to catch the movie in theatres then.
