While some fans of DC and director Zack Snyder may not like to hear it, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” was an experiment, a one-off, and not the cornerstone upon which subsequent DCEU movies are built. “‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ exists in a mini-fork of the DCEU,” the director himself told us during the 2021 interview, adding that Warner considers the theatrical cut of Justice League to be canon. But maybe that’s changed – or at least “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti sees it differently…
At least that suggests a small but important scene in the new DC blockbuster: When Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) meet at the beginning of the movie, they disagree about how long they haven’t seen each other. Was it a few years ago in college? Or did they ‘just see each other’, as Iris claims?
Iris & Barry: First meeting in the Snyder Cut
While Barry clumsily denies this, Iris is of course right: She and Barry have actually only seen each other recently – but only in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” and not in the theatrical cut of the movie. This makes it clear which of the two versions “The Flash” is based on, namely the so-called Snyder Cut. To explain this, we need to go a little further:
Kiersey Clemons was cast as Iris West in The Flash in 2016(!), almost exactly seven years ago now, when Rick Famuyiwa was still on board to direct, having previously worked with Clemons on Dope. However, over the years, her first appearance was delayed because “The Flash” was not released for a long time and she was cut from the theatrical release of “Justice League”. It wasn’t until “ZSJL” that Zack Snyder reposted the shot scene, which you can watch here:
So if Iris felt like she and Barry were only seeing each other recently, that can only be a reference to the Snyder Cut. However, the connection between “The Flash” and “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” isn’t 100%, even though the two have only recently seen each other in this version.
Than strictly speaking, nothing in the “ZSJL” scene suggests that Barry and Iris have known each other since college. It seems more like the two are getting to know each other for the first time. With a little good will, however, that could certainly be explained – perhaps the two have changed optically since university or Iris, who has a near-fatal accident here, has largely suppressed the traumatic experience.
However, for DC’s future, this probably won’t matter. By the imminent flop of “The Flash” it should finally be clear that the old DCEU has no future – be it “Justice League” or “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”. From 2024, the construction of a new DC Universe (DCU) will begin, which will officially start in 2025 with “Superman: Legacy”.