Brightest Day for Warner Bros - A Tale of Two Franchises

I doubt they will start with Jay Garrick, but I can see this: the first three Flash films will be Barry-centric, but introduce Wally (with the actor signing a nine film contract, or something to that effect) and build him so that if the actor playing Barry leaves, they can have him make his heroic sacrifice and Wally could take over.
I'm not sure Barry could hold three films
 
I just looked it up, and apparently Mark Ruffalo signed a six-picture deal with Marve Studios. So, aside from his cameo in Iron Man 3 (spoilers?), that's The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, the two Infinity War movies, and I guess one more. My guess is that they'd use the last picture in his contract, either a Hulk solo movie or (more likely) another ensemble film of some sort to transition the mantle of The Hulk from Bruce Banner to Amadeus Cho.
 
Great timeline!

I just looked it up, and apparently Mark Ruffalo signed a six-picture deal with Marve Studios. So, aside from his cameo in Iron Man 3 (spoilers?), that's The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, the two Infinity War movies, and I guess one more. My guess is that they'd use the last picture in his contract, either a Hulk solo movie or (more likely) another ensemble film of some sort to transition the mantle of The Hulk from Bruce Banner to Amadeus Cho.

Or he could just take a page out of Robert Downey Jr.'s playbook and keep re-signing for more money.
 
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Although, amidst all this talk of Barry Allen, Wally West, and actors' contracts, I would like to remind everyone that a new update has been posted.
 
I'm not sure Barry could hold three films

He will have to because I am not certain that Wally could hold one without looking like a Barry clone.

And there is what I call "the Problem of Wally West," one of the main draws of the character was that he was the one (former) sidekick who took up his predecessor's mantle. It took a great deal of time and three different writers (Mike Baron, William Messner-Loebs, and Mark Waid) to build Wally up and overcome his own insecurity in the role. Great for the comics medium, but not so much for other media because the Flash in the 1990 television series was Barry and not Wally, who was the Flash in the comics at the time. Simply put: I do not see Wally as the iconic "Flash" because he used the same basic formula as Barry. Both were fans of the previous Flash (note that Barry Allen was reading an old copy Flash Comics in Showcase #4) who gained the powers of their hero through the exact same means; both had reporters as their significant other; and hell, Wally wore Barry's uniform for his first four years as the Flash and mostly used a modified version for the rest of his career. Wally never really distinguished himself in a way that Barry distinguished himself from Jay.

Wally's character development being tethered to Barry hobbled him in a way that made him difficult to use for other media. It did not matter too much for the DCAU Justice League because he was part of an ensemble cast so it didn't really matter as much, but also note that they used Bart Allen as the speedster for Smallville. I can imagine the passing of the baton from Barry to Wally in the DCCU ITTL, but it will need buildup for it to work.
 
To those who may be interested in Barry Allen and Wally West, again, read up on the script for George Miller's aborted Justice League: Mortal. Without spoiling anything, the story features both characters.
 
He will have to because I am not certain that Wally could hold one without looking like a Barry clone.

And there is what I call "the Problem of Wally West," one of the main draws of the character was that he was the one (former) sidekick who took up his predecessor's mantle. It took a great deal of time and three different writers (Mike Baron, William Messner-Loebs, and Mark Waid) to build Wally up and overcome his own insecurity in the role. Great for the comics medium, but not so much for other media because the Flash in the 1990 television series was Barry and not Wally, who was the Flash in the comics at the time. Simply put: I do not see Wally as the iconic "Flash" because he used the same basic formula as Barry. Both were fans of the previous Flash (note that Barry Allen was reading an old copy Flash Comics in Showcase #4) who gained the powers of their hero through the exact same means; both had reporters as their significant other; and hell, Wally wore Barry's uniform for his first four years as the Flash and mostly used a modified version for the rest of his career. Wally never really distinguished himself in a way that Barry distinguished himself from Jay.

Wally's character development being tethered to Barry hobbled him in a way that made him difficult to use for other media. It did not matter too much for the DCAU Justice League because he was part of an ensemble cast so it didn't really matter as much, but also note that they used Bart Allen as the speedster for Smallville. I can imagine the passing of the baton from Barry to Wally in the DCCU ITTL, but it will need buildup for it to work.
Their similarities are a strength in my eyes. As it stands Barry's got nothing going for him. Wally has everything Barry has, plus an actual character arc. It also helps that any current fans of the Flash Comic circa 2009 are more likely to be Wally West fans. Barry's been dead for over twenty years.

The most logical course of action for a Film adaptation at this moment would be for Wally to be the flash and have Barry or Jay serve an Obi-Wan role.
 
I never said they'd start with Jay; I said that if DC wants to plunder Golden Age Heros in later films for more money and to try something different but samey, having the Flash be a title for the people who hold it would be a good idea. And I'd have to say it'd probably make more sense to splice Barry and Wally into a composite character for the movie or something like that. It does depend on who writes the Flash script though, since honestly most people probably would only know the flash in terms of mainstream from schlock like the Superfriends or something; comics honestly don't permeate as much as TV or film, so what they decide to do with Flash is going to be the first really big exposure for the character.
 
Their similarities are a strength in my eyes. As it stands Barry's got nothing going for him. Wally has everything Barry has, plus an actual character arc. It also helps that any current fans of the Flash Comic circa 2009 are more likely to be Wally West fans. Barry's been dead for over twenty years.

Just by looking at the sales data for December 2008, Flash #247 (the last issue of the Wally era) barely cracked the Top 100. However, the title was in free fall before Final Crisis hit because Wally could not keep momentum when Mark Waid left after the relaunch, which was rather lacklustre. I doubt DC or Warner Bros. would give Wally a film right away, especially since they brought Barry back that soon.

Also worth noting that Wally never had that much of a supporting cast outside of Linda Park, Iris West-Allen, or the superhero community in general from the issues I remember reading. As basic as Barry's stories were, he had more a supporting cast on the outside during the eighties, Wally never had much of one until (ironically) Johns took over the title from 2000-2005.
 
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Just by looking at the sales data for December 2008, Flash #247 (the last issue of the Wally era) barely cracked the Top 100. However, the title was in free fall before Final Crisis hit because Wally could not keep momentum when Mark Waid left after the relaunch, which was rather lacklustre. I doubt DC or Warner Bros. would give Wally a film right away, especially since they brought Barry back that soon.

Also worth noting that Wally never had that much of a supporting cast outside of Linda Park, Iris West-Allen, or the superhero community in general from the issues I remember reading. As basic as Barry's stories were, he had more a supporting cast on the outside during the eighties, Wally never had much of one until (ironically) Johns took over the title from 2000-2005.
Wally's got more presence among the non-Comics crowd though
 
Wally's got more presence among the non-Comics crowd though
That and whichever Flash is seen in the movies is going to be the one that the mainstream's probably gonna remember. It's why I see it being Wally West spliced with Barry Allen's back story, with either Barry, Jay, or another composite character that is a mix of the two serving as a mentor of sorts ala Hank Pym in Ant-Man.

Comic fans are always going to be a minor component of the final draw, so these companies probably aren't gonna try that hard to make them exact.
 
I'd be very interested to see what effect a successful Green Lantern has on the DC comic verse.. does 52 still happen or is there a chance of spin off books for the movies like how Ultimates are to Marvel.

Also if they can tie the GL movie to the DCU, maybe the 3rd Batman could name drop too- esp If Nolan does walk! Though I'd imhgine we'd be on here asking 'what If Nolan stayed for all three Batman flicks?'
 
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