In recent weeks, The Flash has been besiged by negative press. Lead star Ezra Miller can be blamed for that as a series of damning allegations have pointed to an actor who is out of control and heading in a downward spiral. Rumor has it he's out as Barry Allen once this film is released, though no one is 100% sure if that will actually happen.
There's been chatter of The Flash being reshot with a new lead or dumped on HBO Max, but Warner Bros. is clearly weighing up its options and hoping this all blows over.
In the meantime, a YouTube channel that leaked accurate plot synopses for The Matrix Resurrections and Godzilla vs. Kong prior to their respective relases has now shared a full breakdown of The Flash. It matches up with much of what we've heard in the past and points to a film that's very different to what we expected...and potentially a pretty fun ride.
It should probably go without saying that massive spoilers follow from this point on!
10. The Justice League
Warner Bros. is developing a habit of delivering a trimmed-down Justice League. Peacemaker gave us Aquaman and The Flash, with the rest of the team hidden in shadow, and this film also looks set to deliver just a partial group of heroes.
Following a terrorist attack that sees the criminals take refuge in a hospital, the Scarlet Speedster races into action and gets a helping hand from Ben Affleck's Dark Knight. Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman also appears for a small cameo that only consists of a few minutes, though this is meant to be the League in action rather than a random team-up.
Barry and Bruce have formed quite a bond since we last saw them, and Batman later offers his fellow hero - who is dejected that his father remains in prison - a very important piece of advice...
9. Time Travel
When The Flash suggests he could travel back in time as he did in Zack Snyder's Justice League (apparent confirmation that version of the film is now considered "canon"), Batman warns him that doing so could have dire consequences for the universe.
Desperate to save his father and bring his mother back, Barry ignores him and ends up travelling through the Speed Force after figuring out how to save her life. Racing back in time, the Fastest Man Alive sees what's described as a "coliseum setting" that is representative of a time vortex.
A monstrous creature stares back at him and gives chase, but not before Barry gets where he needs to. Well, or so he thinks. After blacking out, the hero wakes up. It's 2013.
8. The Other Barry Allen
Now in the past, Barry comes face-to-face with his younger self. Ezra Miller plays both versions of the character, though Past Barry has yet to receive the powers that made him The Flash.
The Scarlet Speedster's mom is also still alive, and Future Barry decides the best way to save her is to teach his younger self how to use the Speed Force (thereby avoiding doing any further damage to the timeline). It just so happens this is the day Barry gets his powers, so they head to the lab and prepare for the Past version to be hit by that fateful lightning strike.
Things go wrong, though, because Future Barry being there means he's in the way of the blast and both of them are hit. The Flash loses his powers, though Past Barry still gains them. The problem now is that The Flash is stuck in the past.
7. A New Batman
Future Barry knows he screwed up and decides to find the Justice League. The problem is, they don't exist yet. Superman is having issues with the U.S. Government, Wonder Woman is still on Themyscira, and Aquaman is little more than a rumour. Bruce Wayne is out there, though, so after training the Past Barry, the two heroes set off for Wayne Manor.
Both Scarlet Speedsters believe Ben Affleck's Bruce is the one they'll meet, but Wayne Manor no longer looks like Wayne Manor. It's the version of the mansion from Tim Burton's Batman movies, and when they find Bruce, he's an old man with a grey beard and unkempt hair who is cooking spaghetti. "You want to get nuts?" the Michael Keaton version of the hero asks.
Once things calm down, the Barrys explain what's happened and the Caped Crusader comes to the conclusion that The Flash travelling back in time has broken the universe, hence why he's now in the wrong reality. So, it's more a merging of timelines than a different world.
6. General Zod Returns
Not only is this the time Barry got his powers, it's also the day General Zod first invades Earth. Michael Shannon is back as the Man of Steel villain, and both versions of The Flash decide they need to get to Superman before he's handed over to his fellow Kryptonian as Kal-El can potentially help get Future Barry back home.
Keaton's Dark Knight initially wants no part of this, but changes his mind. The Batcave is shown and there are a bunch of alternate Batsuits on display similar to Iron Man's Hall of Armor. Batman - who has a number of trophies from past battles - figures out that multiple timelines have started to converge, and figures out where Superman is being held.
After breaking into the facility (this is another example of how the timeline is being changed as Supes wasn't held captive in his 2013 origin story), the trio doesn't find Superman...it's Supergirl instead.
5. Superman Is Dead
Taking Supergirl back to Wayne Manor, they learn that Superman died on the way to Earth. His cousin did make it to the planet, though, and General Zod's mission remains the same.
The group comes to the conclusion they need to stop Zod (after all, there's no Superman to stop him this time), but with Future Barry minus his powers, Batman comes up with an idea to give this group a little extra power. There's a thunderstorm outside and, just like in Flashpoint, the Dark Knight straps the Scarlet Speedster into an electric chair atop Wayne Manor.
Future Barry is electrocuted, but doesn't become The Flash. Dejected, he begins to lose hope until Supergirl - now suited up - flies him into the sky into the lightning. Unfortunately, it appears to kill him! Thankfully, after Past Barry touches him, the hero is powered up again!
4. The Final Battle
Heading to the desert to confront Zod, Future Barry dons his Past self's new costume. That younger hero, meanwhile, dons a modified version of one of Batman's Batsuits (seen in the banner image at the top of this feature).
Zod demands Superman, but no one knows what he's talking about because the Man of Steel no longer exists in this reality. The villain kills General Swanwick - a.k.a. Martian Manhunter - and unleashes the World Engine then and there. A huge battle ensues, and Zod is ultimately defeated...without a single casualty in Metropolis.
Unfortunately, Keaton's Dark Knight is badly injured and as Future Barry apologises for bringing him into this fight, Bruce expresses gratitude for reminding him how to be a hero. The assumption is that he dies here, but there's still one more big twist to come.
3. The Flash's Sacrifice
Before we get to that, we need to go back to an earlier point in The Flash. As we mentioned, Barry's mother is still alive in 2013, though her death is imminent. The hero figures out that, to save her, he simply needs to remove all the cans of tomato sauce from the convenience store she visited prior to her murder, meaning she'd have to shop elsewhere.
As a result, his mom wouldn't be cooking dinner when her killer struck, thereby stopping that mysterious event from ever taking place. However, in order to fix time before travelling home, Future Barry must put those cans back to ensure her death does happen. It's a tragic reveal, though he does get a touching moment with her - in costume - before fixing things.
Heading back to 2022, the Scarlet Speedster once again travels through the Speed Force and realises the creature he saw was a monstrous version of himself from the future. Had he not made things right, Barry would have been corrupted and a crisis in the universe would have taken place. With that, he resolves to accept his mother's death and help free his father.
2. A Cliffhanger Ending
Everything seems normal and it appears the damage caused by The Flash's trip through time was undone when he realised sacrificing his mother's life was key to saving reality.
It appears there is evidence that could exonerate Henry Allen, and it looks like Barry has got a happy ending. The same Mercedes-Benz that originally pulled up before Affleck's Bruce Wayne emerged to warn his fellow hero not to toy with time appears, but it's Keaton's billionaire who steps out this time. Supergirl also appears, though neither of them should be here.
Barry is perplexed as putting those cans back should have made things right. Neither knows what they're doing there, but a new DC Extended Universe has clearly been created where they exist in place of "Batfleck" and Henry Cavill's Superman. With that, the film ends, but there's one final tease.
1. Crisis Is Coming
Jason Momoa finally makes a cameo appearance as Aquaman in a post-credits scene that shows Barry helping a drunk Arthur Curry leave a bar.
Racing home to grab something that can sober his fellow hero up, there's suddenly a distress call coming through on the Scarlet Speedster's computer. He watches it, and it's a video message from Affleck's Batman. He pleads with The Flash for help, making it clear he needs to be rescued after the hero changed the timeline and broke reality.
It's unclear how the mechanics of all this work, but it looks like Barry's next mission will be saving the DCEU's original Batman in what could be a take on Crisis on Infinite Earths...
h/t Reddit