The multiverse, a concept that has been prevalent in comic books for quite some time, is now making its first foray into mainstream pop culture. Zack Snyder introduced it in his Justice League when audiences were presented with intriguing scenes from the Knightmare sequence. Marvel also jumped on this bandwagon with WandaVision, and things have never really been the same when it came to comic book adaptations. Apart from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, DC's The Flash will be the next exploration of the multiverse.
While it can be said that the idea of a multiverse can be used to retcon creative issues of the past (Electro in Spider-Man: No Way Home becoming comics accurate, for example), the splitting up of timelines and alternate realities can also lead to a plethora of other issues.
Continuity and fan allegiance are one such problem. When you're presented with a smorgasbord of Batmen, which one do you choose? Whose story gets propelled forward? Yes, audiences are slowly embracing the multiverse-as exemplified in the case of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but can other IPs, particularly DC, follow this success?
The Flashpoint Paradox
Director Andy Muschietti revealed that this year's The Flash will be loosely based on the brilliant story arc of Flashpoint Paradox. A story that revolves around the Flash messing up with timelines leading to a full-on war between Amazons, Atlanteans, and Humans. The direct-to-video animated movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, released a while back was stellar, and so, undeniably, 2022's The Flash has some pretty big boots to fill.
Muschietti will be playing with quite a few characters, namely-and arguably the biggest being Michael Keaton's Batman, who is rumored to be acting as DC's Nick Fury of sorts. The fact that he will be interacting with Ezra Miller's Flash alone is enough to get any fan excited. But DC is upping the ante and throwing in Ben Affleck's rendition of the Batman, too. Yes, there's a lot to be pumped about here, but will this be a Spider-Man: No Way Home moment?
The sad truth is that the novelty of seeing characters from the past appear on-screen again is now gone. Marvel did it first, and any other property that comes after is just trying to play catch up, which may be the case with The Flash. Hopefully, Muschietti has a lot up his sleeve, and having multiple Batmen will be a winning element in The Flash. Still, there is a lot more he can do, considering the Flashpoint Paradox source material.
Multiverse Madness
Marvel hit it out of the park with Spider-Man: No Way Home. All three Spidermen, the return of old villains, and even the hint of new characters made the film the box office juggernaut that it is today. They even went so far as to create a 'new' origin story for Spider-Man with a major death. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a masterpiece when it comes to cohesive storytelling. From what we have heard, DC will attempt to explore multiple corners of the Flash mythos, even including Supergirl, in a push to create a new DC Trinity (although certain fans still champion Henry Cavil's Superman). While this is no Andrew Garfield, the inclusion of new characters like Supergirl should propel the case of the DCEU forward.
The release of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer at this year's Super Bowl showed audiences that Marvel has no intent in slowing down the expansion of its multiverse. Teases of characters like Patrick Stewart's Professor X and variants of existing heroes have fans hyped for this new journey.
It's true that they've botched attempts at a unified universe before (see Joss Whedon's Justice League and Birds of Prey), but with The Flash, Warner Bros. has the opportunity to fix these wrongs while creating a solid path forward.
Now that the idea of the multiverse is essentially here to stay, DC can expand its storylines and hopefully create a singular narrative that isn't as divisive as its past endeavors have been. The inclusion of the Batmen is already a step in the right direction, and with the further addition of Supergirl (along with hints at Flash variants), Andy Muschietti has set the stage for a film that may have a shot at rivaling Spider-Man: No Way Home. At the very least, the upcoming movie can help establish these characters, which will hopefully lead to their own films and TV shows.