Warner kept the ending of “The Flash” a secret until the very end, and that’s a good thing. Finally, the return of George Clooney as Batman (after 1997’s “Batman & Robin”) is a surprise that the cinema audience should take as coldly as possible. But among DC fans, this decision is being discussed quite critically. Some would have preferred a return to the former so-called DCEU with “Man Of Steel” and “Justice League”. And that really could have happened – including Henry Cavill’s appearance as Superman. But one after the other:
Ending #1: Sasha Calle as Supergirl & Michael Keaton as Batman
The Flash is actually a movie shot in three different Warner/DC boardrooms. Development began under Warner boss Toby Emmerich and DC Films boss Walter Hamada, along with filming and post-production (editing, effects, music, etc.).
Currently “The Flash” must end in front of the courthouse as in the theatrical versionsuch as the American industry magazine reported. However, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) would not meet George Clooney as Bruce Wayne there, but Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and Batman (Michael Keaton).
The timeline would therefore not have been completely reset in this version and would have brought back Supergirl and Batman. In the long run, Hamada planned a sequel to The Flash and an adaptation of the iconic Crisis On Infinite Earths comic strip line, which sees the various parallel worlds of the DC Multiverse under threat.
End #2: The New Justice League starring Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot
But then came Discovery’s acquisition of Warner – and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. discovery, fired Emmerich and Hamada and installed Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy as interim leaders. And of course, these two had their own ideas for an ending, which was finally filmed in September 2022:
The idea of Henry Cavill returning as Superman in “Black Adam” was born between De Luca and Abdy, but it soon came to naught due to the flop of the DC movie starring Dwayne Johnson. However, as it looked like for a while Henry Cavill will permanently replay Superman when he appears at the end of The Flash – along with Supergirl (Sasha Calle), Batman (Michael Keaton) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).
So after The Flash there would have been a new Justice League, but at the same time, established characters like Superman and Wonder Woman (who were supposed to appear in “Wonder Woman 3” at the time) would have remained present for the public. In Supergirl’s case in particular, that would probably have produced a more rounded conclusion, so Sasha Calle’s final scene remains her death at the hands of General Zod (Michael Shannon).
End #3: George Clooney as Batman
However, filmmakers took over in November 2022 James Gunn (“Guardians Of The Galaxy 1-3”, “The Suicide Squad” and producer Peter Saffron (including “Aquaman”) took over at DC and jettisoned the two previous ends. The new Superman movie planned by the previous lead was canceled and development on “Wonder Woman 3” also came to naught, parting ways with Henry Cavill and “WW” director Patty Jenkins.
However, Gunn and Safran wanted to keep the main idea of the ending: Barry discovers that his reality isn’t quite the same after all. So the idea of bringing back another ex-Batman came up – and since both Clooney and his agent were impressed with “The Flash”, they quickly got to work: The new ending of “The Flash” with George Clooney was shot in January 2023, just five months before its theatrical release.
You can read more about Clooney’s ending and appearance in this article: