The Flash Movie: Which Classic DC Films & TV Shows Inspired The 2023 Blockbuster?

Considering "The Flash" movie dabbles in time travel, it's only appropriate director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti looked toward the past to inform the latest DC blockbuster.

Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash (Ezra Miller), may seem to have a simple power set. He runs fast; that's his deal. But in the newest film, he realizes he can run so fast as to travel back in time and prevent his mother's death. Of course, time travel has a nasty habit of causing butterfly effects, resulting in Barry ending up in a timeline drastically different from his own. And while "The Flash" movie contains references to other projects in the DC Extended Universe, like the return of General Zod (Michael Shannon), Muschietti looked toward other prominent DC films to inform this particular story.

The Muschietti siblings revealed to The Atlantic that they needed time to think about it before signing on fully to work on "The Flash." But when they decided, they realized they needed to look toward DC films from the past that combined sentimentality with silliness. As such, it was only natural to find inspiration in Richard Donner's 1978 "Superman" film, the Adam West "Batman" TV series, and Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman."

Ezra Miller's version of The Flash has already appeared in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," "Suicide Squad," and "Justice League," but those were in supporting roles. Barry's the titular character this time around, and even though other superheroes are present, the character needed to be able to stand apart and support a full story. Andy and Barbara Muschietti wanted to create something akin to what they grew up with as kids in Argentina. "We would watch on a 12-inch black-and-white TV because it was the '70s and in Argentina," Andy Muschietti said. "We wouldn't see those colors until years later."

It's obvious to see how 1989's "Batman" would be an influence. It's such a touchstone that they ended up putting Michael Keaton's version of Batman into "The Flash." However, as far as tone and theme go, the most obvious inspiration has to be 1978's "Superman." Barbara Muschietti explained how they took "the combination of an incredibly heartfelt story and the fear of loss" from that into their own movie without letting go of the level of fun.

There's a real balancing act of spectacle, comedy, and drama in "The Flash," but for Andy Muschietti, that last point was the most important. "I wanted to create an emotional core that was strong enough to validate the rest of this big adventure," he stated. "Very often, these big movies don't have a heart big enough to go in for the ride." Many critics' reviews of "The Flash" movie praised those emotional undertones between Barry and his mother, so it sounds as though the team excelled in that endeavor. "The Flash" comes out in theaters on June 16.