‘The Flash’ Movie Details Aren’t Official Yet, But Have The Main Villains Been Revealed Already?

Superhero movies have long been the reason for the success of multiple comic book adaptations, but in recent years television has played an important part in bringing certain characters to the front of the cultural conscience. Where Batman and Superman are well-known and feature in movies on a regular basis, certain characters have come to life via the small screen. One of these is The Flash, who was recently adapted to the small screen by The CW, alongside fellow DC hero The Green Arrow. Now on it’s third season and enjoying a measure of success, it was only a matter of time until the Scarlet Speedster earned his own movie — which is currently in the works for a 2018 release.

Nothing is official yet in regards to the plot details, but The Flash has already appeared in juicy cameos during both of DC’s massive blockbuster outings in 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. He will also feature in Justice League when it drops in 2017, as part of the eponymous superhero team. As per the route of his fellow League members, Aquaman and Wonder Woman, he will star in his own feature-length movie following Justice League, and this week, details surfaced that potentially revealed the main villains of The Flash movie. Yes, there’s more than one.

Umberto Gonzalez, a reporter for The Wrap, mentioned during a Periscope stream that the super villain team known as The Rogues will feature as the main antagonists in The Flash. The specific members of the villainous group are yet to be revealed or confirmed, but Captain Cold (who has featured in both The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow TV series) and Captain Boomerang (who appeared in the Arrow TV series and in Suicide Squad during the aforementioned cameo) were named as members from the comic books. At the moment, this is nothing but rumor since Professor Zoom was also mentioned at one point as an ally for Captain Cold. However, for a first solo outing on the big screen, The Flash will certainly have his hands full with an entire group of enemies.

Tracing back to the source material in the comics, The Rogues had many iterations, but the most original and frequent members were Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Golden Glider and Trickster. Unlike other versions of The Rogues — where world domination, the death of innocents, and more malevolent practices were their goal — the group mentored by Captain Cold was all about the crime, and making sure their robberies and heists were carried out perfectly. Working as a team, Cold believed The Flash was unable to stop them due to their bond and unity, which made them quite a formidable group of foes. This was evident during his introduction in The Flash TV series, an multi-episode appearance that saw him aligned with Heat Wave and Golden Glider, his sister.

As revealed some time ago, Ezra Miller will slip into The Flash’s red outfit for the movie. Grant Gustin plays Barry Allen on the small screen and was replaced by Miller for the movie version of the character — a decision that annoyed certain fans and fellow actors, as revealed by Cinema Blend — and many can expect this to happen for any member of The Rogues, too. Captain Boomerang is the only member of The Rogues, thus far, to feature in both the small screen and big screen iterations of the DC universe. On TV, he featured in a crossover episode of The Flash and Arrow, and he also played a pivotal role in Suicide Squad over the summer. The character was played by two different actors, Nick E. Tarabay and Jai Courtney, respectively, so this looks like a trend that will continue going forward. Courtney is already signed on for The Flash movie — as confirmed by Outer Places — and will reprise his role as Captain Boomerang, so let the rumors of The Rogues formation continue.

One more thing that will be addressed should The Flash hit cinema screens, in the TV show Captain Cold and his fellow criminals have had their powers explained and provided by technology, a trend that has worked immensely well in both The Flash and Arrow. This grounds the universe in reality somewhat, which means Barry Allen and only a few others actually have working super powers. Metahumans do exist in the universe, but they only appear on the rare occasion. Whether this is changed for the movies remains to be seen, but with Zack Snyder already unleashing Gods and monsters in his films, plus Suicide Squad deciding to balance both realism and fantasy somewhat with its tricky premise, this could be something to keep an eye on.

Other than this, the main concern will be simple. Is there enough running time to flesh out each villain in turn? Multiple villains simply hasn’t worked in past superhero movies, and it even hindered Suicide Squad somewhat with the main team featuring several members, few of which were given ample time to shine. Unlike the TV show, they don’t have 20-plus episodes to bring these characters to life, they only have two hours. Whoever writes the script needs to be aware of this major factor. However, if they do pull it off, the movie could be an exciting treat for fans of the Scarlet Speedster and superhero movies in general. Roll on, 2018!

[Image via Warner Bros. Pictures]