I am of the strong opinion that DC Comics, a company that I have respect for, has a history of giving its characters objectively bad names. Mr. Miracle, an escape artist, is a man called Scott Free. Cyborg is literally a cyborg who goes by “Cyborg.” Thankfully, there are at least a few DC heroes with legit names.
The Flash has a cool ass name. It’s fun and fast and not too on the nose, while also perfectly encapsulating pretty much everything you need to know about the character. Of all the members of the upcoming Justice League movie, Barry Allen’s definitely got the only codename worth saying out loud, but according to actor Ezra Miller, he doesn’t actually have his name when the movie takes place.
During an interview with WSVN-TV reporter Chris Van Vliet, Miller explains that at one point, there was actually a scene in which Barry Allen struggles to think of a name for his superhero persona.
Said Miller:
“Barry is just Barry at this point. And there was even a scene that was cut from the movie where he’s going on and on and on, trying to figure out — ‘Why was that scene cut from the movie?’ He’s, like, going on and on and on, trying to figure out what he should be, and what he should call himself. See, he doesn’t have a superhero name yet.”
Miller and Gal Gadot went on to make clear that neither of their characters ever actually say their codenames out loud and honestly, that’s fine. Because once one of them says it, all of them say it, and then you’re left there in a movie theater listening to a grown man explain why he’s dressed up as a bat and another man insisting that “Aquaman” isn’t the lamest name ever. Perhaps it’s best to let Barry be Barry and Diana be Diana.