The Flash: Is SPOILER Really the New DCU Batman?

The Flash took viewers on a winding dash through the possibilities of the DC Multiverse, and the ending came with a twist few ever saw coming! 

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FLASH FOLLOW! 

*

*

*

*

*

*

"I'm (The New) Batman"

After breaking the timeline of the entire DCEU, Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) had to fight wars both internal, external, and temporal in order to set things right again. However, in the final moments of the film, it turned out that things weren't quite as "fixed" as Barry thought: the version of his buddy and Justice League teammate  Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) was gone, replaced with a new Batman (Geroge Clooney) that Barry had never seen before! 

Unfortunately, The Flash ends before shedding any additional light on this recasting mystery, leaving DC and/or movie fans everywhere dangling on the question: 

Is George Clooney DC Studios New DCU Batman? 

Geroge Clooney is arguably the most infamous live-action version of Batman to ever grace the screen. He starred in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997), the film that broke the franchise for nearly ten years, until Chris Nolan relaunched it with Batman Begins in 2005. Clooney has never quite lived down the ridiculousness of Batman & Robin – down to the Bat-nipples on costume he wore. To his credit, Clooney has been good-natured with self-depricating humor about his misadventure as Batman:

"Like, when I say Batman & Robin's a terrible film, I always go, 'I was terrible in it.' Because I was, number one," Clooney told GQ a few years back. He added that admitting his own failings in Batman & Robin "allows you the ability to say, 'Having said I sucked in it, I can also say that none of these other elements worked, either.' You know? Lines like 'Freeze, Freeze!'"

The question now is: would George Clooney really take another shot at being Batman? Clooney has mostly been behind the scenes in recent years, as a producer, director, entrepreneur and activist. Then again, Michael Keaton (71) just made fans believe he could fight on a superhero level as Batman in The Flash, so Clooney (62) wouldn't be too much of a stretch for audiences to buy an older Bruce Wayne. 

DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have already announced the DC Universe franchise will get its own Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold. That film will focus on Bruce Wayne and his relationship with son Damian Wayne. In the comics Damian was born to Talia al Ghul after she and Bruce slept together, and Talia raised the boy under the wing of her father, Ra's al Ghul as a League of Assassins prodigy. Bruce takes custody of Damian in his teenage years, and re-trains him as a crimefighter with a code, with Damian eventually taking on the mantle of Robin. 

Having George Clooney as a version of Batman trying to navigate both crimefighting and fatherhood... isn't the craziest thing, actually. Clooney is a major star, is fitting as 'Daddy-Bat' and may even have an emotional connection to the role: he finally became a father in 2017 (at age 56) when his wife Amal Alamuddin gave birth to twins, a boy (Alexander) and a girl (Ella). Obviously, it would also be a chance at redemption for Clooney, who has shown so much more of his acting talent (and Bruce Wayne sauve) in the years since Batman & Robin. 

But Is The Flash THE END Of The DCEU? 

This is the point that will hopefully become more clear in the days after The Flash's release. This ending stinger with Clooney's Bruce Wayne could be nothing but a final punchline in a comedic film that effectively acts as the end of the DCEU or "SnyderVerse" as we've known it since Man of Steel. 

The Flash was always described as being just that – an end/reset to the DC movie universe, and in many ways it feels like one. If that's the case, expect James Gunn and co. to make it clear in subsequent days after The Flash's release that Clooney is NOT Batman in The Brave and the Bold. 

The Flash is now playing in theaters.