The Flash almost had a Bruce Wayne who never became Batman, just an aimless party boy

Here’s a mad bit of DC film history for you. The Flash was first promised back in 2014 as part of Warner Bros.' original DC Extended Universe plans, but, as you might have noticed, it actually took them nearly ten years to get that one across the finish line. And, as is often the case with these troubled superhero projects, a rotating cast of writers and directors tried and failed to crack the code before anything substantial emerged on the screen.

What the Original Writers Had in Mind

Among the long list of creatives attached were John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (you might know them from 'Game Night' and 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'). For a while, they were set to direct, and they still have a story credit on the final product. If you thought what we got was their vision, though, think again. Daley and Goldstein recently spoke to The Playlist about what from their version actually survived.

According to Daley, the main scrap that made it through the rewrite woodchipper was the bit with Barry Allen teaming up with a slightly younger version of himself on his trip through time. If you were hoping most of their story remained, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

An element of him and his slightly younger self embarking on the journey together. Everything else was kind of different.

One especially odd bit from their script? While there wasn't a huge Batman role, there was a Bruce Wayne knocking about—except, crucially, in their version, he’d never actually become Batman. Instead, Daley said, he was 'just this sort of billionaire party boy who's aimless and doesn't know what to do with his life.' They fancied the idea of forcing him into being a hero for once, which—as we all know now—ended up on the cutting room floor. The studio went with full Michael Keaton as Batman instead, and so that entire angle was scrapped. There’s no indication who’d have played that particular Bruce Wayne, but imagining Ben Affleck brooding in a designer suit, utterly lost, is oddly amusing.

The Director Stands By It

Despite all the build-up—and that early hullabaloo about ‘The Flash’ supposedly being one of the all-time best superhero flicks—the film ended up pulling in a not-exactly-blockbuster $271.4 million worldwide. Reviews were, shall we say, lukewarm. Still, director Andy Muschietti is absolutely unapologetic about the whole thing. In his words,

A lot of people did not see it. But you know how things are these days — people don’t see things, but they like to talk s*** about it, and they like to jump on bandwagons. They don’t really know. People are angry for reasons that are unrelated to these things.

He went on to say that the team has moved on, recognising that sometimes a project just hits a rough patch, no matter how much you put into it. Muschietti is adamant it’s a good film—take that as you will, but at least he’s not dodging the criticism.

$271.4 million: The Flash's worldwide box office haul—a far cry from its blockbuster hype.