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There are very few comic-book movies that have gone through the development hell that The Flash has gone through over the past decade, but it seems as though fans will finally get to see their favorite scarlet speedster get his own standalone film. The DC adaptation is set to premiere on June 15th, and two trailers have been released that reveal a lot about the future of DC. It’s safe for fans to say they are counting down the days until they can see the movie. James Gunn, co-CEO at DC Studios, and the man in charge of the new DCU stated back in January that the movie

The flash would be “resetting the current Snyderverse” of the DCEU, and moving forward with plans for a fresh reboot of the entire DC franchise. While critics of the DCEU (which has now been around for a decade) were excited to hear about Gunn taking over for the studio, it left a lot of pondering from fans about what it would mean for some of the actors and actresses currently occupying the roles of DC’s heroes and villains.So, with the news from Gunn that

The Flash will be resetting the entire DCU and allow the studio to move forward with Gunn’s plans for the future, the question looming over the superhero movie is thus – how exactly will the movie reset the entirety of the DCU?Flashpoint Comic Concept

While the details haven’t been revealed to the public, it was announced long ago that

The Flash movie would be loosely following the same story arc as the Flashpoint comic-book series. Now, a large portion of movie-goers are also comic-book fans and know what happens during said arc, but there are some audience members who aren’t as familiar with the comic-book storylines as others.Essentially, the Flashpoint comic centers around the concept that Barry Allen wakes up in a universe that is vastly different from his own – a world where Cyborg is the main protector of Earth instead of Superman, Bruce Wayne was killed instead of his parents which resulted in Thomas Wayne becoming Batman and Martha Wayne becoming Joker, the world is being destroyed due to a war between the Atlanteans and the Amazonians, and Barry’s mother is alive while he himself has no super speed. The story reveals that Barry traveled back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which caused drastic ripple effects on the future. As stated in the

The flash

movie, Barry Allen will travel back in time and prevent the murder of her mother. This will then cause catastrophic changes to the DCEU timeline. This will then allow the studio to ‘reset’ the DC film and tv universe and move forward with James Gunn’s plans for the future.Possible CameosWith Barry Allen traveling back in time and changing the events of his current timeline, that’s why characters such as Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck’s Batman will be appearing in the film, as well as Sasha Calle’s new version of Supergirl. Andres Muschietti and the studio are also able to do a wide range of cameos in the film. They thought the same thing.

In a recent interview, the director revealed that he originally had a list of cameos planned for the film, including Lynda Carter, Marlon brando, Grant Gustin, his television version The Flash, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Cesar and Burgess Romero as Joker and Penguin. The Flashpoint comic book story-arc will feature Dr. Manhattan, a character already seen on screen in DC’s Watchmen film and HBO’s Watchmen television series.

Unfortunately, the director also revealed that the original unedited version of the movie was 4 hours long and that a significant number of cameos they had planned had to be cut. That said, reports indicate that there are still multiple surprise cameos planned for the movie and audiences shouldn’t have to worry about the fan appeal.

Upcoming DC Projects

So, since

The Flash

will be reseting the DCU, what exactly does that mean for the projects that DC has slated for the near future? As it turns out, The Flash will give DC some wiggle room on this front. Gunn revealed in an interview in February that the scarlet-speedster movie will not be a total reboot of the DCEU but a fluid reset. He said, “ (The) Flash resets a lot of things, but not everything.” Some characters remain the exact same, while others do not. Gunn has made it more or less clear that characters from previous DC projects are still technically eligible to appear in future DCU project due to the inclusion the multiverse concept of The flash. So, what that means for upcoming DC projects like Blue Beetle

and Aquaman is that they could still ultimately work their way into the new DCU, seemingly based off of fan appeal and sequel potential.However, it could also mean that while The Flash is set to feature several cameos from prior DC characters, we could also be getting glimpses of future DC characters that the studio has planned for one of their slated projects. Gunn has a DCU project that includes Supergirl’s stand-alone movie. Perhaps a cameo from a new Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, or even Swamp Thing wouldn’t be out of the question.ConclusionWhat does all of this information truly mean in terms of how the DCU will change? While the media has portrayed Gunn’s plans as a complete reboot, The flash

is a ‘love-letter’ to DC fans while establishing a solid foundation for their future plans. The Flashpoint comic changed the DC comic book landscape in a similar way. The conclusion of the Flashpoint story-arc saw Barry merge with a version of himself that resulted in 3 different DC timelines (“New Earth” of DC proper, Vertigo universe in Earth-13, WildStorm universe of Earth-50) combining to form a brand new universe known as The New 52, allowing the remnants of the three universes to coexist with each other.

Looking at it from that perspective,

The Flash will reset the DCU in the sense that it won’t ignore that the SnyderVerse ever existed, nor any of the other prior DC films and television shows. It will instead act as if every prior DC project was its own universe within the DC multiverse, and allow said universes coexist with each other. The reset of The flash should honor DC’s history while preparing them for their future. This is a welcome change for DC fanatics.

Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch