What is Flashpoint? Inspiration for The Flash movie explained

Flashpoint was a monumental event in DC Comics – one that helped inspire new movie The Flash. Here’s everything you need to know about the story.

Flashpoint is an epic comic crossover from 2011. The brainchild of Geoff Johns, the storyline united disparate arcs across multiple titles, and helped reset the DC timeline in advance of The New 52.

The Flash is getting his own standalone movie this month, one which involves time-travel, the multiverse, and story strands plucked straight from the Flashpoint event.

So this is how that storyline played out in the comics, and how that plays into The Flash.

What is Flashpoint?

Here’s the official DC synopsis for Flashpoint: “When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it?

“It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of The Outsider, The Secret 7, SHAZAM!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces! It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!”

When that outline states that the world has changed for Barry Allen, it means globally, with Superman missing, and the Justice League non-existent, both of which might happen in the movie as neither the Man of Steel nor the JL have appeared in any trailers of footage released thus far.

How Flashpoint influences The Flash movie

On a personal level however, we know that Flashpoint is an influence on The Flash movie. When Barry wakes up in the comic, his murdered mother is suddenly alive. While his father is the one who is dead, rather than in prison for mom’s murder.

The Flash movie appears to speed down a similar path. In Barry’s timeline, mom is dead and dad is in prison. But the character somehow travels to a different timeline. And when asked why he wants to fight for that iteration, Barry tells Bruce Wayne: “Because this is the one where my mom lives.”

Lots more happens in Flashpoint, concerning characters like Cyborg, Joker, Green Lantern, Deathstroke, and Enchantress, who presumably aren’t in The Flash movie. But the Speed Force has an important role to play in the comic, and we believe it will also be prominent in the film.

The Flash hits UK screens on June 14, 2023, when we’ll update this article with more Flashpoint connections should we spot them. For now, you can find out more about the film on our dedicated Flash page here.