DC Officially Connects TV and Movie Universes

Ezra Miller made a surprise cameo as The Flash in the penultimate episode of the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, officially linking the DC TV shows of the Arrowverse to the DC movie universe. After being chased by the Anti-Monitor, Grant Gustin's Flash winds up in STAR Labs where he comes face-to-face with Miller's Flash. The meeting of TV and movie Flashes is played for laughs as Miller asks if Gustin is cosplaying, while Gustin calls Miller the Flash, a name the latter has yet to go by in the movies. The scene ends when Miller fades away, saying, "I told Victor this was possible," presumably referring to his buddy Vic Stone aka Cyborg.

This means that the Arrowverse is a parallel universe to the DC movie universe (referred to by fans as the DC Extended Universe or DCEU) where Miller’s Flash resides and the events of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! took place.

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This crossover has been a long time coming. Back in 2015, Miller told MTV about how he was psyched about there being two different versions of the Flash and how he wanted to interact with Gustin’s version of Barry Allen.

“I think it's awesome,” Miller enthused. “And come on, we're the Flash! It's parallel universes! Grant Gustin is the Flash and I'm the Flash, don't you see? It's the event horizon, we crossed it baby! Grant and I are chillin'. We're gonna have a race, it's gonna be dope. Like Jay Garrick and Barry Allen back in the day, it's gonna be dope."

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Back in 2014, DC stalwart Geoff Johns told Buzzfeed that they view the DC TV universe and the movie universe as co-existing in the Multiverse. The Flash is practically synonymous with the Multiverse where an infinite number of parallel universes exist because the Speed Force allows him to travel between them, so it makes sense that the character would be used to bridge the gap between the TV and movie universes. In a sense, these universes have always co-existed, but now it’s finally been confirmed on screen.

It’s hard to say whether this TV/movie crossover was a one-time thing or if we’ll see more in the future. Recently Andy Muschetti, director of the upcoming Flash movie, said that the film will showcase a different take on the iconic Flash tale Flashpoint. The Flashpoint comic saw Barry Allen travel to the past to save his mother from being murdered, creating a butterfly effect that drastically changed the present for the worse. We’ve since seen that the world of Flashpoint became its own parallel universe within the Multiverse, so it’s entirely possible that Muschetti could use that Flashpoint to explore the Multiverse and reference the Arrowverse in return. If anything, Miller's Flash now has an origin for his superhero  name. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.