Andy Muschietti’sThe Flashstands as one of the last gasps of theDCEU, a sad installment within the studio’s embattled original era. While it wasn’t the final film released before DC handed the keys to James Gunn and Peter Safran (that would beAquaman and the Lost Kingdom), its belated premiere after years of development landed at a time when the franchise was already on its last legs.
Unsurprisingly, for a project with such a long development, many ideas were discarded throughout its numerous iterations, for better or worse. While we may never know all the ideas that were dropped, some eventually surfaced, and at least one of them would have been a lot cooler than what the final product eventually offered. It would have seenThe Walking Dead’sJeffrey Dean Morganstepping into a very intriguing role, one whose future was quickly scuttled when the studio changed their long-term plans.
The DCEU’s Plans for Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Morgan made his DCEU debut as Thomas Wayne, the murdered father of Bruce Wayne, in 2016’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, alongside hisWalking Deadco-star Lauren Cohanas his wife Martha. While Morgan and Cohan’s appearances in the film were brief, director Zack Snyder had bigger plans for them in the saga’s future. For one, Snyder was interested in adapting theFlashpointcomics series, in which the Flash wakes up in an alternate DC timeline where everything’s different.
In theFlashpointseries, it’s actually Bruce who is gunned down in a dark alley, leading that universe’s version of Thomas to become Batman and Martha to become the Joker after some grief-induced insanity.Morgan was set to play this version of Batman for several years, though the role never materialized.According to Morgan, once Snyder parted ways with the DCEU, stepping away amid studio turmoil and the death of his daughter, the plans for his role largely disappeared. Cohan hasn’t confirmed if there were plans for her Martha to become the Joker, but one would likely follow the other.
The Flasheventually settled on a form of the alternate universe concept, but it ended up looking quite different from how Morgan originally described the idea.Rather than bring in the vengeful Thomas Wayne Batman, the film instead hit the nostalgia button. It brought back Michael Keaton to play an older version of the character from the Tim Burton-directed movies. This makes sense from a commercial standpoint, as Marvel’sSpider-Man: No Way Homeachieved similar success bybringing back two other cinematic Spider-Men. But as great as Keaton’s Batman is, it unfortunately robbed the final film of a much more interesting storyline.
Why Morgan’s Flashpoint Batman Could Have Worked (In a Very Different Movie)
The idea of an alternate universe Batman where Thomas took up the cape and cowl after Bruce’s death is fascinating, and Morgan would have made a terrific, grizzled Caped Crusader. He’d already proved his skills with morally compromised figures, both inThe Walking Deadand as the Comedian in 2009’sWatchmen,hisprevious collaboration with Snyder.Multiverse stories are always about how small changes can lead to huge differences, and it would have been interesting to see this play out in a way beyond “still Bruce Wayne, but different.”
One reason why this plan was ultimately scrapped may be that it felt like the sort of thing that would have been right at home in one of Snyder’s films, which had proven unpopular with a large portion of the fan base. While Snyder had plenty of acolytes willing to defend his honor, his take on the characters was largely seen as overly grim and serious. A Batman driven by the murder of his young son certainly seems like an idea that would have worked better in one of Snyder’s grayscale projects rather than the zippy, quippy energy ofThe Flash.
After the critical and audience backlash toBatman v Superman, DC sought to lighten the tone in subsequent projects, resulting in arguably the two best ‘Snyderverse’ films: 2017’sWonder Womanand 2018’sAquaman.It also led to the chaotic andmuddled production ofJustice League,where Joss Whedon was brought in to try and inject some of the humor he’d brought toThe Avengersover at Marvel, which, suffice it to say, didn’t go over so well.
With DC’s new cinematic era officially launched on the back of Gunn’sSuperman,it’s unlikely that Morgan will get to suit up as theFlashpointBatman any time soon. Gunn seems to have no plans to bring back any of the DCEU-era stars. However, the DCU’s “Elseworlds” concept does allow for alternate versions of the characters, so maybe they’ll take a crack at this Batman someday (aftertheothertwo versions of the character are alreadyin the works). If they do, hopefully, they’ll borrow one thing from Snyder and cast Morgan in the role. He may have already been fitted for a suit.
