Breaking Down the End of the DCEU in The Flash's First Trailer

Gonna hope the sepia tone here means that this is just a memory for Keaton’s Batman recalling when he hung up the cowl after facing a formidable foe.

While the shot feels very Nolan Batman-esque, I’m going to safely guess this is probably Affleck’s Batman on the ground—the cycle is very Bat-pod, but not quite the same.

Who can it be?

Barry risks it all to save his mom—which is the main plot of his Flashpoint arc. Look at this adorable memory and the Warner Bros. Scooby Doo placement.

And there’s the matter of clearing his father’s name from her murder.

Okay so we get this parallel between Barry’s family and this image we’re pretty sure are the Waynes, but the hand here doesn’t really look like Bruce’s.

We know that somehow Barry enters a timeline where he’s in a new world... one that might need two speedsters. It’s interesting to note that DCEU Barry dons his red while new Barry is featured prominently in yellow, which makes us wonder if he’ll turn out to be a different take on Reverse Flash.

What a sight for sore eyes! I can’t believe it, and I can’t wait to see this beaut again.

Barry v Barry? Or is he trying (and seemingly failing) to stop the accidental lightning strike that gave him his super speed?

Time to put on a suit—and at last, the cinematic Barry Allen gets a take on his comics counterpart’s insta-change costume ring.

Really seems like Barry should have listened to Bruce here as he’s warned about the consequences of changing points across the timeline. This also feels like it could be the last time we Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne in their timeline before Barry goes back.

Well, he should have listened to Bruce. This feels like the moment where Barry thinks he’s back in his own time but maybe misses the mark and ends up at a version of the start of the DCEU—with Zod’s speech right out of Man of Steel.

This is a climatic moment in Man of Steel’s where Zod attacks Metropolis. But no Superman in sight!

He seems confident no one is going to stop him.

Unless....someone dons the S.

Now, in the events of Flashpoint, Kal-El is captured and held prisoner but here we have a new variation on that arc, with Kara maybe being the only meta-human in the disrupted universe the film’s story takes place in. And one that’s going to need to join in the fight.

We’re back in the batcave, baby!

Okay I feel like a kid again.

There he is! It’s him and he said the thing!

Really at this point I was bowled over at the Elfman theme and action montage.

Something surely goes so wrong that Kara has to carry who we think is one of the Barrys into the skies. Surely, it can’t be a weakened Kal-El? And if it were would it be a the new Kal-El/Clark Kent?

A new spin on a classic... with neck mobility we hope, for Keaton’s sake.

Speedforce action to save the world(s)—as we get a glimpse of prime Barry’s red suit, and a more homespun black-and-yellow for Barry 2.

Yes, it’s back too. And seemingly in a lot of trouble, but still!

A battle we’re very excited to see—and one that looks like it’s taking place in the speedforce. Kara and Clark might not be quite Barry fast, but they are pretty fast.

Sasha Calle looks so fierce. Can’t wait to see her wreck Zod’s army up.

This looks like Affleck’s Batman on his way to battle Zod, which makes us wonder if it becomes a universe without Batman when he can’t take him on alone. Plus: note the blue-and-grey color palette, translating Batman’s classic comics colours to the Batfleck suit. And... what are those armor straps on his body? Strength enhancers? Armor?

After Barry finds himself on the losing side of a scrap, he turns to Bruce for aid... and is met with the mighty fist of Keaton’s Batman!

As he introduces Supergirl. Yeah, that’s gonna help any fight.

So here we have Keaton’s Batman and Supergirl, freely detained from the imprisonment we saw earlier, teaming up. There’s something in my eye.

Kara shares her story, but we don’t get enough to find out what happened to her cousin. Is she the only Kryptonian in this timeline, or did Clark still arrive before her, and has now perished?

The bright red and blues, it’s time for Supergirl—as Barry 2 can’t resist a picture.

Man of Steel goes down very differently, even with the key difference we see here: Supergirl will not kneel before Zod.

This looks like it’s set up to get into the Batcave, but the hair and the frame don’t really scream Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne, so, perhaps... what if this is Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle?

Based on this closet, I want to know more about Keaton’s caped crusader adventures that happened after the events of Batman Returns. There’s so many little references here, including a Year One-style suit, and, like Batfleck, a Blue-and-Grey uniform (complete with a Batman TV series emblem, to boot!)

We end on Barry getting a look at the cinematic O.G.—Anton Furst’s Batmobile, and it looks as gorgeous as ever.

The Flash’s first title lifts a little bit more off of the lid of just how and why we’re getting this Barry Allen/Bruce Wayne/Kara Zor-El smashup. Bringing us all the way back to the events of Man of Steel is a fascinating way for The Flash to put an end cap on this particular cinematic iteration of the DC universe, but time will tell if that’s enough to make this feel like more than a speedy farewell. We’ll find out more when The Flash races into theaters June 16.

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