The Spider-Verse Writers’ Plan For The Flash Was ‘Not A Multiversal Story’

THR did an in-depth profile of Lord & Miller ahead of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” hitting theaters, and additional comments have now been published in THR’s “Heat Vision” newsletter. Talking about “The Flash” (Lord & Miller haven’t seen it, so they’re going off the trailers), Miller said that their version was similar in some ways, and different in others:

“It did involve time travel, but it was not a multiversal story. So I think it is safe to say that this is its own unique thing. There are definitely some things that were in the trailers that I’ve seen that were similar to things that are in our treatment, but I’m certain that, from what I know now of the story, it seems quite different from what we had.”

Lord added that, “A lot of our treatment was about how much food [the Flash] had to consume.” In the comics, the Flash’s super speed means a super fast metabolism; he has to eat huge amounts of food to keep up with his powers. The cartoons “Justice League” and “Young Justice” feature Wally West (Barry Allen’s protege and successor) frequently chowing down on huge meals and it sounds like Lord and Miller’s “Flash” would’ve characterized Barry similarly.

Legendary comic writer Grant Morrison — who also had a go penning “The Flash” — told Rolling Stone that their take wouldn’t have involved the multiverse either. “[My script] was a Flash story, so it wasn’t where they wanted to go with multiverse and stuff. And that was the end of it.” 

It seems that centering “The Flash” around the multiverse — with all the nostalgia cameos that opened the door to — is what finally got the project off the ground. Time will soon tell if the approach pays off.

“The Flash” releases in theaters on June 16, 2023.