Editor’s Note: This story contains major spoilers for the new movie The Flash.
(CNN) – The new superhero film The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, follows the super-fast titular hero on a time odyssey where worlds quite literally collide, as the tagline suggests, in a breathtaking climax sequence featuring various alternate universe versions of certain main cast members. It’s sure to excite some, while racking up worries for others.
The film clearly demonstrates an undisguised love for the DC Extended Universe and all films and TV series before it, as well as the comic book source material. But some of the innuendos at the end of The Flash are real Easter eggs that even the most seasoned fans won’t quite get.
However, already knowing that The Flash would return Ben Affleck’s creepy Batman from Justice League and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as Michael Keaton’s classic Batman from Tim Burton’s popular films, cameos cameos were real surprises.
Here is a summary:
Wonder Woman – Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984. (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)
While not a total surprise, thanks in part to a leak by Affleck himself, Gadot’s appearance early in the film is one of her two uncredited roles as Wonder Woman that year, the other in the sequel Shazam! Fury.” of the gods. ‘, which premiered in March. In “The Flash,” Henry Cavill also appears briefly as Superman in one of the “Chronobowl” sequences, in which Miller’s nimble hero runs so fast that time forms a ball around him, showing images of the past.
The Original TV Batman – Adam West
Adam West (left) and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin in the Batmobile, respectively, in an image from the Batman television series. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
At the end of the film, as Miller’s Barry Allen, aka The Flash, hurtles at incredible speeds, seemingly causing time and space to collapse around him, “worlds” of different colors float overhead before colliding with one another. , and one of them starring Adam West, who played Batman in the classic 1960s television series Batman.
The Original TV Superman – George Reeves
Full length portrait of American actor George Reeves in the Man of Steel suit from the television series “Superman”, circa 1955. (Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
A second “world” in the same sequence features actor George Reeves, star of the classic television series “Adventures of Superman,” which aired a decade before the “Batman” series, from 1952-1958. An equally classic line of dialogue is heard at this point in the sequence, briefly, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane…” (Interestingly, Affleck played Reeves in Hollywoodland, a 2006 noir mystery film starring Adrien Brody and Diane Lane, who also has her own connection to Superman).
Classic Movie Superman – Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve in Superman: The Movie, 1978. (Credit: Warner Bros/DC Comics/Kobal/Shutterstock)
One of the most unexpected – and unexpectedly moving – moments in the sequence follows when the late Christopher Reeve is seen in what appears to be a computer-generated (CGI) recreation. Reeve starred in the highly successful 1978 film Superman, directed by Richard Donner, which is considered the first comic book superhero film. This film spawned three sequels that cemented Reeve as the man of steel’s banner, a banner that may never have been surpassed. Tragically, the star was paralyzed in a horse racing accident in 1995 and passed away in 2004 at the age of 52.
Original Supergirl – Helen Slater
Helen Slater in the movie “Supergirl”, 1984. (Credit: Stanley Bielecki Movie Collectio/Moviepix/Getty Images)
While Supergirl gets a contemporary treatment in a larger role in The Flash, played by Sasha Calle, the original film adaptation – played by Helen Slater in the 1984 film starring Faye Dunaway – joins Reeve during The Climax.
Wannabe Superman – Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage was photographed in Los Angeles, California in 1990. (Credit: Paul Harris/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Next comes the craziest cameo of all, when a long-haired Kal-El/Superman battling a giant spider turns out to be none other than “Intolerable Weight of Massive Talent” star Nicolas Cage, also heavily airbrushed painted. by CGI. Why the hell is Cage in this movie? The answer has to do with one of Hollywood’s most famous stories: the saga of Superman Lives, Tim Burton’s 1998 film about Superman who never saw the light of day. After breaking through with his acclaimed film duo Batman, Burton worked on Superman Lives, in which Cage would play the unorthodox Clark Kent/Superman. As detailed in the 2015 documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? – including interviews with Burton and budding Superman Lives writer (and Clerks director) Kevin Smith – the film was scrapped in part because a screen test leaked an image of a disheveled Cage in a Superman suit, It was met with massive public disapproval and was one of the first times something went viral, albeit not in a good way.
Batman Rebooted – George Clooney
“Batman and Robin” starring George Clooney (right) and Chris O’Donnell, 1997. (Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
The final cameo to get audiences laughing comes at the end of “The Flash,” when Miller’s character thinks he’s finally back in his own universe… only to find his old friend Bruce Wayne doesn’t like him looks. Affleck. .. but a silver-haired George Clooney from the infamous Batman & Robin. The decision to include Clooney here is all the more surprising and amusing given how many times Clooney has said he regrets filming Joel Schumacher’s much-maligned 1997 film, complete with Batman suit with nipples.
Aquaman—Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa as Aquaman/Arthur Curry. (Source: courtesy of HBO Max)
Momoa’s Aquaman reappears in a largely unnecessary sequence in a post-credits scene in The Flash, which viewers may believe helps set the stage for the long-awaited sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; But it is not like that. The scene features a drunk Arthur Curry (Aquaman’s common name) momentarily falling asleep in a puddle, which is no big deal for this demigod son of Atlantis. Also look out for a cameo by Curry’s father, Tom, played by Temuera Morrison, formerly in The Flash.
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