Best superhero cameos in The Flash

❘ Published: 2023-06-16T10:43:45

Warner Bros.

With The Flash now in cinemas worldwide, let’s examine some of the best superhero cameos in the movie.

For a character as speedy as The Flash, Barry Allen has taken his time reaching a standalone movie. The character was introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and has since cameoed in various team-up movies that have featured multiple superheroes.

Now his own, self-titled film does much the same, turning into a stealth Justice League flick when Flash teams up with Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl to do battle with General Zod.

But the movie has a few more surprises up its sleeve, with the following discussing our favorite superhero cameos in The Flash. Meaning SPOILERS to follow…

Best superhero cameos in The Flash

We’re going to ignore Keaton’s Batman and Calle’s Supergirl as you already know about them, and they function as much more than cameos.

The Aquaman appearance is a weird one – the character dropping in for a pretty pointless post-credits scene – but you can read about Arthur Curry’s drunken cameo here.

And Teddy Sears appearing as the Jay Garrick Flash – rather than Grant Gustin popping up as Barry Allen – rules that one out. Though the moment made it into our Easter Eggs piece. Much better are the following cameos…

Superman (Nicolas Cage)

In the late 1990s, Nicolas Cage was set to star in a Superman movie for Tim Burton. Locations were scouted. Sets were built. Costumes were tested. And Superman Lives was about to shoot when the project fell apart, as detailed in our article here.

But thanks to The Flash, Superman does indeed Live, with Nic Cage’s Man of Steel appearing during a Speed Force sequence, and even fighting the giant spider that was supposed to be in the original movie.

Batman (Adam West)

Adam West is still one of the great Batmans, camping it up as both Bruce Wayne and the not-so-Dark Knight in the 1960s TV series, and the brilliant 1966 spinoff movie.

Here he’s briefly spotted in the Speed Force, at much the same time that you can hear Caesar Romero’s iconic Joker laugh.

Superman (George Reeves)

George Reeves played the Man of Steel in TV series The Adventures of Superman from 1952 to 1958. That version of the character briefly cameos here, again in the Speed Force, ensuring that The Flash pays homage to DC’s small screen roots.

Reeves’ life was tragically cut short via a gunshot wound in 1959, when he was just 45-years-old. And that story was told in the movie Hollywoodland, where he’s played by Ben Affleck, who plays the first iteration of Batman in The Flash!

Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)

Gal Gadot has played Wonder Woman in two standalone movies, as well as the DC team-up features Batman v Superman and Justice League. She recently cameoed at the end of Shazam: Fury of the Gods. And here she appears at the start of The Flash.

Wonder Woman steps in during the opening action sequence, helping Batman and Flash stop a virus from wiping out half of Gotham City. It’s a fun cameo, but one that’s somewhat spoiled by her Lasso of Truth leaving the heroes tongue-tied, and Barry Allen talking about sex.

Superman (Christopher Reeve) & Supergirl (Helen Slater)

Christopher Reeve first played Superman in 1978, where he proved both adults and children would watch a comic book movie. Helen Slater played Supergirl in 1984, in a film that proved no one will watch a superhero movie if it isn’t very good.

In The Flash, the pair of them pop up in a Speed Force sequence where they are standing side-by-side on a Metropolis roof – the first time these specific versions of the characters have been seen together onscreen.

Batman (George Clooney)

At the end of the movie, with the story concluded and loose ends seemingly tied up, Barry Allen receives a call from Bruce Wayne, who then pulls up and steps out of a car. But rather than being the Ben Affleck Batman that Barry knows, it’s the George Clooney version. Who he very much does not know, leaving Barry as confused as the audience watching.

George Clooney played Bruce Wayne in the critically-maligned Batman & Robin. Indeed Clooney himself has repeatedly taken shots at the film, and his own performance in it. So – Nic Cage aside, this is the most surprising cameo in The Flash. And certainly the funniest.

For more on the The Flash, check out the below articles: