The Flash Movie Removed These 4 Major DC Heroes After Filming
Written by Luck Wilson on June 21, 2023
The Flash’s producer just revealed four removed cameos that came close to making it into the final version of the film.
Warning – this article contains major spoilers for The Flash.
While the reception to The Flash has been mixed following its release in theaters, fans have still found plenty to enjoy. One of those things was all of the cameos within it.
There were the obvious ones such as Ben Affleck’s Batman or Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Then there was Michael Keaton’s Batman, who, of course, played a leading role in the film.
Then the Multiverse got people talking, with one of its biggest cameos being Nicholas Cage’s Superman—despite him being an off-putting CGI creation. Christopher Reeves’ Man of Steel and Helen Slater’s Supergirl also managed to get a brief moment in as Flash was destroying reality.
Cutting Multiverse Cameos From The Flash
The Flash producer Barbara Muschietti revealed to Variety that at least four other Multiversal cameos were removed from the film.
Muschietti noted that they “had a lot more characters” they wanted to include in the big Multiverse sequence, but at the end of the day, they “had to pick:”
“The universes start colliding, and we had a lot more characters that we all know that we had to let go because there just wasn’t the time… That ‘hall of fame’ of great characters and actors…there’s so many, the list was endless. We had to choose, we had to pick.”
She did make sure to clarify that they felt the need to include Adam West’s Batman with their own history growing up in Argentina:
“We grew up in Argentina where the reruns were very important. We only had four channels, and they were presenting Batman, rerunning Batman as if it was a new series… That was our Batman.”
Below are the four Multiverse cameos that could have been, according to Muschietti.
1.) Lynda Carter – Wonder Woman
Lynda Carter played the first live-action Diana Prince for the ABC Wonder Woman series, which debuted on November 7, 1975. The show went for three seasons, made up of over 50 episodes.
Sadly, a glimpse of her hero didn’t make it off the chopping block for Ezra Miller’s recent film.
While she didn’t make it into The Flash, Carter did make it into Wonder Woman 1984. Instead of playing Princess Diana, she was the legendary Amazonian Asteria, although she sadly won’t be returning to the role due to James Gunn’s big DCU reboot.
She also played an alien Durlan named Olivia Marsdin and was even formerly the president of the United States.
2.) Marlon Brando – Jor-El
While Christopher Reeves’ Superman made it in, his on-screen father didn’t—but there is a world where Marlon Brando’s Jor-El made the cut.
The actor first appeared in 1978’s Superman: The Movie. He went on to make an appearance in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, and some archival footage of him appeared in Superman Returns
3.) Burgess Meredith – Penguin
While the team behind The Flash felt the need to include Adam West, they couldn’t extend that to his many villains.
One of the Caped Crusader’s rogue gallery who could have made it in was Burgess Meredith’s Penguin.
Turns out, there was another villain from West’s world who almost joined Meredith.
4.) Cesar Romero – Joker
Where Batman goes, so does Joker—well, except for in The Flash.
Cesar Romero first appeared as the iconic villain in the 1960s Batman TV show alongside Adam West. His Joker was the main antagonist of the series, and the secondary villain of the 1966 film.
What makes his take on the big bad different is how he is generally considered a harmless trickster, and not a true danger.
Maybe Next Time, Multiverse?
When the Multiverse is at one’s disposal, the possibilities are endless.
In reality, it’s shocking how they didn’t squeeze in any more Multiverse cameos. Perhaps at some point, they had more sequences utilize the concept, but in the final product, there’s really only the single scene towards the end that offers viewers those glimpses.
After all, this isn’t likely the last time The Flash will interact with the Multiverse. Every iteration of the character tends to mess around with time travel at some point or another—it’s bound to happen again in James Gunn’s big reboot.
Maybe they can take the opportunity to bring in the hero’s arch-nemesis, Reverse Flash?
The Flash is currently playing in theaters.
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