How Flash's Story Ended In Snyder's Original Justice League 2 & 3 Plan
If Justice League 2 and Justice League 3 had happened, how would the story of The Flash have ended in Zack Snyder's version of the DCEU? While Zack Snyder's Justice League got its due on HBO Max, the four-hour cut was only the beginning of the filmmaker's endgame. The Snyder Cut focused on the formation of the team while also setting up the next part in the director's envisioned trilogy: The Justice League come together to take on Steppenwolf while also learning about Darkseid and Apokolips having their eyes set on Earth. As much as this was the origin story of the team was born, the plot progressed Snyder's overall plan that began in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Ever since Bruce Wayne had those visions of the Knightmare future, that has been a core element in Zack Snyder's Justice League trilogy. The sequels would tell the story of how Darkseid would take over the planet, kill several of the heroes, and also make Superman succumb to the Anti-Life Equation. The Snyder Cut even included more glimpses of the horrific future that waited for them where Lois Lane had been murdered by Darkseid while Kal-El had helped him and Apokolips take over the planet. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has confirmed that there won't be any Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 sequels. Even if there won't be any following installments, Snyder's plans (or at least a version of them) are out in the world in the form of rough storyboards and he had a lot more in store for his Justice League franchise, including The Flash.
Barry Allen was one of the principal characters of Zack Snyder's Justice League that had a huge arc set up for him as he became one of the new members. While Ezra Miller will reprise the role in The Flash movie, it won't be connected to the Snyder Cut which is now no longer considered main DCEU canon. Barry's solo adventure will see him time-traveling as well as getting the Multiverse involved. As exciting as that is for The Flash, there were also some huge stories lined up for Miller's incarnation of the Scarlet Speedster in Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3. Here's what was in store for The Flash in the Justice League sequels and how his DCEU story was going to end.
Zack Snyder's Justice League follows Barry as a young man in Central City who is trying to provide for himself while also doing everything in his power to get his father Henry out of prison. When Barry was a kid, his mother Nora was murdered and his father was framed for her murder as Henry has been in jail for most of his son's life. When the Snyder Cut first introduces him, Barry has only been an active crime fighter for a short time as Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince are putting together a team to defend Earth. Before being recruited, Barry meets and saves Iris West, his future love interest, as part of his introduction.
While Barry is still early in his days as The Flash, his time with the new team sees him grow as a hero as he becomes crucial to the Snyder Cut's climax. Not only does Barry get to help bring Superman back from the dead, but The Flash gives the team a second chance as they initially do lose to Darkseid and Steppenwolf. By tapping into the Speed Force, The Flash rewinds time and undoes the Mother Boxes' unity. By the end of the Snyder Cut, The Flash finds himself a more seasoned superhero as well as landing a job at Central City Police Department's crime lab in his day job as Barry Allen. The last scene Barry has in Zack Snyder's Justice League is in another Knightmare vision where he's one of Earth's last heroes standing after Darkseid successfully conquered the planet.
As huge as The Flash's journey was in Zack Snyder's Justice League, that was only the beginning for him. In Justice League 2, it would have followed up with Barry after the events of the long-delayed The Flash movie that was originally slated to come out in 2018. Per Snyder's storyboards, the DCEU would have introduced Len Snart a.k.a. Captain Cold, one of the famous members of DC's the Rogues. Captain Cold would have appeared in this sequel as part of Lex Luthor's Injustice League that he was putting together. In return for joining his team, Lex would have given Snart a significant upgrade to his cold weapon against the Scarlet Speedster. As far as Barry's journey was concerned, Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 would focus a lot on the speeding hero freeing himself of the past as well as get even more powerful with his time travel powers.
Eventually, Barry would have mastered those gifts so well that it would allow him to be in two places at once. Henry's case was also getting re-opened as Barry, with the help of Iris, Cyborg, and Bruce's army of lawyers that would together get Flash's father out of jail and clear his name. The Snyder Cut sequel would have seen Barry and Henry getting to spend time together outside of prison. But things would take a grimmer tone once Darkseid, with Lex Luthor's help, kills Lois Lane and uses the Anti-Life Equation on Superman. Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 would have also featured a showdown between Captain Cold and The Flash. The conclusion would be a flash-forward five years into the Knightmare future with The Flash being one of the last few Justice League members standing.
While things would go out with a bang in the second installment, Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 would raise the bar even higher for everyone, including The Flash. Given how powerful Barry was at that point, Batman was even more careful with using him in the war as Flash was a key in trying to undo this reality. The third story would also introduce Green Lantern as well as his relationship with The Flash. Justice League 3 would have seen the creation of the cosmic treadmill that would help Barry run back in time to warn the past versions of his allies about the Knightmare future. But they only had one shot at this as Snyder's concept explained that they could only travel back in time once a year and that it was very risky. A Mother Box was needed to get the treadmill to work and Barry would only have 10-15 seconds to tell past Batman about how to prevent this before he'd be taken apart. Bruce gives The Flash an exact line to say to his past self that he knows would help the Justice League stop this future from happening.
But the third film in the trilogy would have been even darker because while The Flash manages to run back in time, Superman and Darkseid murders the rest of the resistance force. Barry gets to the past and tells Bruce that Lois had lied to him about her pregnancy as Batman was indeed the father. The Flash would then vanish out of existence, but it was worth it as his words to Batman would help undo the Knightmare story, and together, the Justice League and the whole DCEU defeats Darkseid once and for all. The Flash would also get a massive battle sequence as he'd take out an entire swarm of Parademons by being at two places at once. Unfortunately, while the storyboards do tell the aftermath as well as what happens 20 years later, The Flash's status doesn't get mentioned. On the bright side, Barry was one of the crucial components to Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 as his time traveling is the reason Darkseid ultimately lost.
Whether or not those exact plans would have stuck in for The Flash in Justice League 2 & 3 will forever be an unsolved mystery. But following the Snyder Cut, what's next for Miller's Scarlet Speedster? Miller will reprise the role in Andy Muschietti's upcoming film that will be an adaptation of the "Flashpoint" storyline from the comics. Ben Affleck will be one of two Batmen to join The Flash as Bruce and Barry reunite once more. While the Flashpoint-inspired arc will focus on time-travel, the Multiverse will also be a huge theme as Michael Keaton's Dark Knight also has a part to play.
Outside of The Flash, Barry's DCEU future remains to be seen, but assuming his solo movie goes well, his franchise may be one of the main ones. Before Zack Snyder's Justice League, Miller's Flash became instrumental for Warner Bros.'s Multiverse strategy when he made a cameo in Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths. That moment between his Barry and Grant Gustin's Flash signaled a new chapter for the studio as DCEU and DCTV can cross paths with each other. That was the first time any DCEU character had interacted with any of the Arrowverse versions of some of these characters.
Only time will tell if Snyder's full trilogy on the Justice League does end up happening despite Warner Bros.'s recent comments. Based on the latest statements, the studio is looking to move forward with their DC properties in other directions. But there were those who said that the Snyder Cut would never happen and yet, circumstances aligned to make it possible. If they do somehow revive the Snyderverse, there would still be all these big ideas that the director had in mind for The Flash in both Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3.