The recent tease about the DC Extended Universe’s The Flash is all about the entitle hero and the impression of Michael Keaton’s Batman, bringing their badges together, but what could this mashup means for the movie? The DCEU continues expanding and noticing a brand-new style so its attributes can connect with the gathering. After the underperformance of Justice League in 2017, Warner Bros. has been altering its image for the DCEU, continuing previously introduced personas, dedicating some of them solo adventures, reimagining others, and moving forward with projects that seemed to be caught in pre-production limbo.

Falling into the latter category is The Flash, starring Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. The programme has been going through many changes since it was announced as one of the purposes of the DCEU in 2013 and planned to be released in 2016. The Flash then received numerous the authors and conductors come and go before eventually deciding with Christina Hodson as screenwriter and Andy Muschietti as director in 2019. After numerous rumors about the narrative, it was confirmed that The Flash was affected by fan-favorite comic book storyline Flashpoint, and so it will see Barry traveling in time to prevent his mother’s death, but messing with time ever wreaks outcomes, and his timeline won’t be the same after it.

Related: The Flash: What Manufactures Flashpoint Terrifying

To add to the excitement around The Flash, in June 2020 it was confirmed that Micheal Keaton will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/ Batman from Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, along with Ben Affleck who will return as the DCEU’s version of the Caped Crusader. Their return is possible thanks to the DCEU Multiverse, with The Flash exploring it further by treating past DC Comics movies as alternating universes from the DCEU. However, there has been a lot of emphasis on Keaton’s return, with Muschietti sharing portraits focused on his Batman logo, and the latest one is a mashup of Batman and Flash’s symbols- and here’s what it could mean for the story.

The aforementioned mashup shows Keaton’s Batman chest symbol spray-painted with the Flash’s colourings and lightning bolt symbol, hinting at the possibility of Batman becoming Flash. Time travel has become an overused theme in movies, but it continues to be somewhat popular thanks to each one having its own patterns, with some claiming that converting the past will affect the future while others have established that it doesn’t, and instead it creates a new timeline. In DC and the Flash’s case, Barry Allen’s journeying to the past to save his mother has some big consequences in his present timeline, with attributes like Cyborg becoming the world’s quintessential protagonist and Bruce Wayne being killed instead of his parents, with Thomas Wayne becoming Batman as a result and Martha going insane and becoming the Joker. Of course , not all of those changes fit the current DCEU timeline, and with the multiverse demonstrated and already explored to an extent in the Tv contest “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, Barry’s time travel will make way for the entrance of different versions of Batman.

Now, it’s unknown what Keaton’s Batman has gone through since the events of Batman Returns, and so he could have become a more remorseless vigilante always looking for revenge, and this could lead him to steal the Flash’s speed so he can “repair” some past phenomena just like Barry attempted to. Batman stealing the Flash’s speed isn’t a new idea as it has already happened in the comics. In Batman: The Red Death, an evil version of Batman, who has seen many cronies die and thus has adopted more extreme approaches while fighting crime, wants to obtain Speed Force dominances but Flash refuses to give them to him. Batman then bonds Flash to the hood of the Batmobile and drives into the Speed Force, which forcefully fuses them into one being, with Bruce gaining Flash’s capabilities and a tainted connection to the Speed Force, while Barry’s consciousness is caught in Bruce’s body. Of trend, Batman becoming the Flash might not happen accurately that practice as it doesn’t genuinely fit the DCEU’s style, but it evidences it can be possible and imparts an idea of what could drive Batman to want the Flash’s powers.

Conversely, it could be Barry Allen who makes over the role of Batman at some point in The Flash. It’s important be pointed out that The Flash is not an adaptation of Flashpoint and is instead influenced by it, so many details from the comic books will be different. This, of course, obligates channel for different scenarios and legends, and so it could see Barry go Batman, though why and how are the biggest questions. Perhaps Keaton’s Batman won’t make it to the end of the movie alive, with Barry forced to give his home as Gotham’s vigilante to demolish whatever menace they face or this mutate of personas could be linked to Bruce gaining the Flash’s Speed Force. As mentioned above, while Bruce got Speed Force and became Red Death, Barry’s subconscious was caught in Bruce’s body. Barry ultimately retrieved restraint and destroys the Red Death, so The Flash could give this storyline a change by having Batman taking over Flash’s hasten while Barry becomes the Batman to put an end to the Caped Crusader from creating major chaos with his powers.

Related: Why The Flash Movie’s First Shot Echoing Tim Burton’s Batman Is So Important

The Flash will be Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen first solo adventure, but there might be a twist coming up that will have Barry not so alone after all. With two different versions of Batman showing up in The Flash and a good deal of emphasis on Keaton’s return through idols shared by Muschietti ( the Batsuit’s chest symbol covered in plunges of blood and the mashup with the Flash’s symbol ), this could be pointing at The Flash being a stealth Batman movie. The emblems of these two heroes made as one could be inkling at Keaton’s Batman and Miller’s Flash being the makes of The Flash rather than only Barry Allen, with the latter serving as a relate link between this past Batman and the one he personally knows, which is Affleck’s version. Keaton’s story, then, could be parallel to that of Barry Allen rather than part of the history of Miller’s persona, doing The Flash a secret Batman movie, too.

There’s still a good deal to better understand The Flash, its people, story, and more, and the level of secrecy around it, along with the characters it’s bringing back and also introducing( as is the case of Sasha Calle’s Supergirl ), all site at Muschietti and firm readying a good deal of surprises for DC fans. All this emphasis on the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman hint at him being key in Barry Allen’s floor, and as learnt above, there are a lot modes in which he can influence it and even consolidate with it, and it’s merely a matter of waiting for more details to be revealed.

Next: What The Flash Movie’s DC Characters Reveal About The Story

Read more: screenrant.com