Into the SuperVerse - Supers related spoilers/discussion for The Flash film

[Last Son of Krypton]

The Flash is a very enjoyable film and a love letter to the DCU and Zack Snyder's much maligned Man of Steel... it also has some small surprises for more general Superman fans. 👀 I have nothing left to say about this film than reiterate the same concepts and plot elements, but it's finally coming out in theaters around the world for everyone to watch and properly discuss... or complain. 😜

spoilers:

The premise is simple: after changing the past to save his mom, Barry Allen gets stuck in 2013 when Zod's invasion is happening... Barry is an unapologetic Snyder's Superman fan 😅 and knows he needs to find Kal to stop the kryptonians. Unfortunately, Superman can't be found because altering the past broke the timeline messing up all the heroes' lives and none of them is around for one reason or another... not even the captive Kara knows where the cousin she has swear to protect is (Kara/Supergirl is more a MacGuffin in the film, but Sasha Calle is good with what she has to work with in her limited screentime). The group that Barry put together has to fill for Clark's absence to fight the evil kryptonians but turn out you really need Superman to do Superman's job, and, this time, without Kal being around, Zod wins. The basic concept is that infinite attempts can be made to change the battle's outcome, but all the possible variations will always end up with Zod obtaining the codex and terraforming Earth (it's a fixed point)... so the price for Barry saving his mom was dooming the human race to be wiped out. As I said in the past elsewhere, it's the MoS event gone wrong... if, in the original Snyder's films, the kryptonians' invasion was the catalyst that kickstart the age of heroes and birth the DCEU, this is its death: there's no Superman to prevent Earth to be terraformed, and no JL to come out the shadows after him. The only way for Barry to stop Zod and his army is to make the ultimate sacrifice and let his mother die again to restore the DCEU events as they originally were. At the end, you can assume Superman got his job done (again) if Barry comes back in present day and the human race still exists. Sadly, the epilogue doesn't have a last appearance of Henry Cavill (there are only few brief CGI cameos of him left in the film) or a closure for the DCEU or the film itself (supporting characters like Calle, Keaton and Affleck vanish completely but you shouldn't even care) and you have to fill the blanks by yourself. A very unsatisfying way to conclude a story and universe, imo. Beside DCEU Superman's "spiritual presence" across the film, we see a glimpse of the "SuperVerse" over there when the multiverse is collapsing during the final act: in a Black & White world, George Reeves appears with his own Jay Garrick; elsewhere Chris Reeve and Helen Slater stand side by side after flying; and a long haired Nic Cage is fighting a giant mechanical spider (yes, Nic finally got his chance to be Superman!). It seems a small tease of the original Crisis project that was planned under the old regime (imagine if we could've seen Cage and Cavill's Supermen teaming up to save the multiverse in a Crisis event 😆 ).

end of spoilers

I guess all the Supermen (and Supergirls) are meant to be still out there saving their respective Earths. Btw, this is still a Barry Allen centric story and a very crazy fun one. 😅 Thoughts?

[DochaDocha]

Glad to see that WB knows how to cash on Superman memes, too, even if they are less known than the Spider-man ones.

[superduperman]

I'm surprised they can use George's likeness considering the fact that he hasn't shown up in any other media.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Interview: The Flash Director Upset by [REDACTED] Superman Leak

Glad to see that WB knows how to cash on Superman memes, too, even if they are less known than the Spider-man ones.

Seeing them made me wish for a multiverse Superman film with as many Supermen as WB can squeeze into it lol.

I'm surprised they can use George's likeness considering the fact that he hasn't shown up in any other media.

They asked permission to the actors' estate for the cameos.

The third act has a lot of cool surprises for fans of DC, Flash, Superman; was there anything that you wanted to include that you actually couldn't due to any lawyers saying, “Yeah, that's not happening?”

BARBARA: No, we had a yes on absolutely everybody we reached out to. The issue was time. We wanted to give each of these cameos time for people to have the time to enjoy them. So we had to cut down the list, which was very long. But everybody we approached, their estates and the living people, they were game because they understood what we wanted to do, which was to honor the legacy of DC.

https://collider.com/the-flash-movie...tti-interview/

[bat39]

I enjoyed all the cameos!

spoilers:

Though it aired in the lead-up to the Silver Age, I've always viewed George Reeves' Superman as being a 'Golden Age'-ish take on the character, and the presence of a Jay Garrick on his earth kinda helps cement that for me. Now I'm hoping that someday DC gives us an animated film or comic or something with Reeves' Superman teaming up with Jay, and possibly other JSA members I loved seeing the Christopher Reeve Superman and Helen Slater Supergirl together (did they ever actually appear together in the 1984 Supergirl film?) The Nicholas Cage cameo was unfortunately spoiled for me before I watched the film, but I literally laughed out loud at seeing the giant spider! Of course, the real shame is no Henry Cavill

end of spoilers

[Jim Kelly]

Interview: The Flash Director Upset by [REDACTED] Superman Leak



Seeing them made me wish for a multiverse Superman film with as many Supermen as WB can squeeze into it lol.



They asked permission to the actors' estate for the cameos.

Good to know that they got permissions for everyone living or dead. I wondered about that as I left the theatre. I thought maybe some contracts they had with actors contained a clause that allowed them to use their likeness, even when those actors were no longer under contract to appear in a movie.

But that might have opened a can of worms, as it did on BACK TO THE FUTURE II when Crispin Glover didn't return as George McFly, yet they used a mould of his face from the previous movie to make another actor look like him--which got the producers in hot water and I believe Crispin Glover won compensation for that.

Always better to err on the side of caution and make sure everyone is satisfied.

[Last Son of Krypton]

I enjoyed all the cameos!

spoilers:

Though it aired in the lead-up to the Silver Age, I've always viewed George Reeves' Superman as being a 'Golden Age'-ish take on the character, and the presence of a Jay Garrick on his earth kinda helps cement that for me. Now I'm hoping that someday DC gives us an animated film or comic or something with Reeves' Superman teaming up with Jay, and possibly other JSA members I loved seeing the Christopher Reeve Superman and Helen Slater Supergirl together (did they ever actually appear together in the 1984 Supergirl film?) The Nicholas Cage cameo was unfortunately spoiled for me before I watched the film, but I literally laughed out loud at seeing the giant spider! Of course, the real shame is no Henry Cavill

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I viewed the cameos as a live action homage to the DC comics eras: Georges Reeves/Jay Garrick = Golden Age; Adam West = Silver Age; Reeve/Slater = Bronze Age; Cage = Modern Age. Maybe it was intentional, maybe not. Reeve and Slater never appeared together, that's the first time. In the Supergirl film, her cousin is only seen in a poster on a wall. The excuse to not be there was that Superman was in a mission in space lol. Btw, Slater was at The Flash premiere. She actually filmed the cameo: https://twitter.com/FlashFilmNews/st...71461388734464 Cage had the best of all cameos. At least, he had something to do instead of just standing there. I will never forgive Gunn for removing Cavill's final 2 scenes as Superman.

end of spoilers

Good to know that they got permissions for everyone living or dead. I wondered about that as I left the theatre. I thought maybe some contracts they had with actors contained a clause that allowed them to use their likeness, even when those actors were no longer under contract to appear in a movie.

But that might have opened a can of worms, as it did on BACK TO THE FUTURE II when Crispin Glover didn't return as George McFly, yet they used a mould of his face from the previous movie to make another actor look like him--which got the producers in hot water and I believe Crispin Glover won compensation for that.

Always better to err on the side of caution and make sure everyone is satisfied.

Yeah, I think it was going to be in poor taste if the families of the dead actors weren't consulted. Btw, the alive actors actually filmed their cameos despite they look CGI lol:

spoilers:

"Part of the idea of the multiverse is presenting these worlds as living together and real," The Flash director Andy Muschietti tells EW in an interview. "So the fact that [Superman Lives] wasn't made, doesn't mean that that doesn't exist somewhere in the multiverse. That was my grease from the beginning of this." "We had a lot more characters that we had to let go because there just wasn't the time," she said. Then Muschietti blurted out Cage's name. "We were all gobsmacked," Barbara says. "We were like, 'We have to get him!' Immediately we called his agents." "He did volume-capture because we needed his performance, but in the movie, obviously Superman is younger, so we wanted to portray a Superman that is the age that Superman was in 1996, which is the year where the movie Superman Lives would have come out," Andy Muschietti explains. "We did have to refer to digital enhancement in the aging." Though there was heavy CGI involved to de-age Cage for the cameo, Barbara confirms, "We shot him in his suit and he looked insane. Amazing." https://ew.com/movies/the-flash-nico...uperman-lives/

end of spoilers

Release the BTS of this. ^^^

[Digifiend]

I enjoyed all the cameos!

spoilers:

Though it aired in the lead-up to the Silver Age, I've always viewed George Reeves' Superman as being a 'Golden Age'-ish take on the character, and the presence of a Jay Garrick on his earth kinda helps cement that for me. Now I'm hoping that someday DC gives us an animated film or comic or something with Reeves' Superman teaming up with Jay, and possibly other JSA members I loved seeing the Christopher Reeve Superman and Helen Slater Supergirl together (did they ever actually appear together in the 1984 Supergirl film?) The Nicholas Cage cameo was unfortunately spoiled for me before I watched the film, but I literally laughed out loud at seeing the giant spider! Of course, the real shame is no Henry Cavill

end of spoilers

spoilers:

50s Superman is very much golden age - the show started in 1952 and the silver age starts in 1956 when Barry shows up - that's why Jay is The Flash.

end of spoilers

[Primal Slayer]

Reeve and Slater never appeared together, that's the first time. In the Supergirl film, her cousin is only seen in a poster on a wall. The excuse to not be there was that Superman was in a mission in space lol. Btw, Slater was at The Flash premiere. She actually filmed the cameo: https://twitter.com/FlashFilmNews/st...71461388734464

Reeves was supposed to appear in Supergirl but couldn't so they just did the poster instead.

Is it nice seeing them together finally? Yeah. Just sucks that it looked so bad that a fan could make a better looking version of the scene.

[DochaDocha]

spoilers:

So it sounds like they had five living Superman actors they could've chosen to have cameos, but instead they elected for two deceased actors and one who never played Superman in a published movie. That sounds like the DCEU for us.

end of spoilers

[Primal Slayer]

The Nicholas Cage of it all was the best part of all the cameos. He at least did something then just posing like they had everyone else do

Though very weird to pay more homage to Superman/Batman then....thr actual Flash's.

[Last Son of Krypton]

"Man of Steel", an unreleased song from 2017 intended for Ariana Grande's album Sweetener. It's believed she made it for Snyder's Justice League soundtrack:



It was leaked this month.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Interview: Kevin Smith Defends ‘The Flash’ Cameos: ‘When I’m Dead, You Can Stick Me in Porn’ Smith also tells Rolling Stone he couldn’t be happier about the movie’s wildest cameo referencing his own Superman experience: “I finally made it”

Reeves was supposed to appear in Supergirl but couldn't so they just did the poster instead.

Is it nice seeing them together finally? Yeah. Just sucks that it looked so bad that a fan could make a better looking version of the scene.

Yeah, it was the weirdest looking one but I still liked the small homage.

spoilers:

So it sounds like they had five living Superman actors they could've chosen to have cameos, but instead they elected for two deceased actors and one who never played Superman in a published movie. That sounds like the DCEU for us.

end of spoilers

Lmao. The director choosed who he wanted, I doubt he had any interest to add there the likes of Welling or Hoelchin. I liked his picks, the sequence made me smile as soon as I heard spoilers:

"Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! IT'S SUPERMAN!" and George Reeves appeared doing the iconic Superman pose.

end of spoilers

The Nicholas Cage of it all was the best part of all the cameos. He at least did something then just posing like they had everyone else do

Though very weird to pay more homage to Superman/Batman then....thr actual Flash's.

I guess JWS and Grant Gustin aren't viewed as iconic. I hope they were at least considered to be part of The Flash sequel and the Crisis film.

[bat39]

spoilers:

I viewed the cameos as a live action homage to the DC comics eras: Georges Reeves/Jay Garrick = Golden Age; Adam West = Silver Age; Reeve/Slater = Bronze Age; Cage = Modern Age. Maybe it was intentional, maybe not. Reeve and Slater never appeared together, that's the first time. In the Supergirl film, her cousin is only seen in a poster on a wall. The excuse to not be there was that Superman was in a mission in space lol. Btw, Slater was at The Flash premiere. She actually filmed the cameo: https://twitter.com/FlashFilmNews/st...71461388734464 Cage had the best of all cameos. At least, he had something to do instead of just standing there. I will never forgive Gunn for removing Cavill's final 2 scenes as Superman.

end of spoilers



Yeah, I think it was going to be in poor taste if the families of the dead actors weren't consulted. Btw, the alive actors actually filmed their cameos despite they look CGI lol:

spoilers:

https://ew.com/movies/the-flash-nico...uperman-lives/

end of spoilers

Release the BTS of this. ^^^

spoilers:

Your era breakdown is a pretty cool way of looking at it, and maybe that was intentional! I suppose Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman would have slotted in well with the Bronze Age had they kept her cameo.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

So it sounds like they had five living Superman actors they could've chosen to have cameos, but instead they elected for two deceased actors and one who never played Superman in a published movie. That sounds like the DCEU for us.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

It seems they made a conscious effort to avoid the TV side of things - at any rate the contemporary TV shows (though you could technically argue that George Reeves and Adam West also count as DC movie actors). So that ruled out Tom Welling, Dean Cain and Tyler Hoechlin. Brandon Routh is a movie Superman, but he's more associated with the TV side of DC these days so he was out too (besides, Routh technically plays the same Superman as Reeve). Cavill's place in the movie wouldn't have been in the Chronobowl anyway (again, a crying shame that he didn't appear!) Stephen Amell recently called out WB over ignoring the TV side of things. There was some speculation online that this was prompted by Grant Gustin not getting a cameo in the movie.

end of spoilers

[DochaDocha]

spoilers:

It seems they made a conscious effort to avoid the TV side of things - at any rate the contemporary TV shows (though you could technically argue that George Reeves and Adam West also count as DC movie actors). So that ruled out Tom Welling, Dean Cain and Tyler Hoechlin. Brandon Routh is a movie Superman, but he's more associated with the TV side of DC these days so he was out too (besides, Routh technically plays the same Superman as Reeve). Cavill's place in the movie wouldn't have been in the Chronobowl anyway (again, a crying shame that he didn't appear!) Stephen Amell recently called out WB over ignoring the TV side of things. There was some speculation online that this was prompted by Grant Gustin not getting a cameo in the movie.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I would've liked Routh to make the cut if for no other reason than to dissociate Routh and Reeve's Supermen. My headcanon is that Routh's and Reeve are multiversal counterparts whose respective universes were pretty similar and had some of the same events, but things turned out a little differently.

end of spoilers