The first real footage for the upcoming The Flash movie has finally been released, giving viewers a glimpse at one of the DC Extended Universe's most anticipated productions. There's still a lot that's unknown about the movie, from how exactly its plot will unfold to who the villains are; however, the answer to the latter may have been answered in the teaser, though not in the way that fans expect.
Two versions of The Flash are seen in the trailer, and given some of the other hints throughout, it's possible that one of these is an evil Barry Allen. This theory draws not only from what's seen so far, but also ideas from the comics that could be adapted in some way in the movie, and here's how the villain of The Flash may in fact be the same character as its title hero.
The Flash of Two Worlds
As mentioned, there are two versions of Barry Allen seen in the trailer, though there's something peculiar about one of their costumes. The Flash in the back theoretically isn't wearing a Flash costume, but merely a red version of Michael Keaton's Batman costume with a Flash emblem spray painted on it. This suggests a connection between this Flash and the 1989 Batman, though it could be a rather tragic one for the Dark Knight.
It's possible this version of The Flash defeated Keaton's Batman, or at least a version of him in another universe. Afterward, he took his costume and made it into a version of his own as a sort of trophy. Thus, his current alliance with the main DCEU Flash is simply a ruse to keep a potential enemy in check by keeping him close, hiding his true motive until the time is right.
If this is the case, this evil Barry could end up being the DCEU version of the Reverse-Flash. After all, the DCEU now has something of a history with slightly changing characters around, namely the villains. For instance, Doomsday in the movies is created from the corpse of General Zod, which is not his origin in the comics. The presence of Reverse Flash would also fit with the movie seemingly adapting some variation of Flashpoint, in which Reverse Flash is a central foe.
At the same time, this version of the Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne, has been ubiquitous through the Flash TV show and the Arrowverse shows as a whole. Thus, changing the man behind the identity would allow for a fresher take on the villain. He could also simply be an evil future version of Barry, which would match up with villainous takes on the hero in both the comics and on The CW.
The Red Death and the Dark Multiverse
Since the movie appears to be leaning into a cinematic Multiverse, it could also incorporate elements of DC's recent Dark Multiverse. One figure from these alternate worlds is the Red Death, a dark combination of Batman and The Flash. That Batman had somehow defeated The Flash and absorbed his powers, using them while wearing The Flash's face to aid in his fight against crime.
Reimagining this would match up both with the movie's scope, as well as some version of The Flash wearing Batman's costume. It's also possible that Keaton's Batman himself became corrupt and turned into the Red Death, explaining further why Batman would need to be in the movie.
The similarities between the two in terms of losing parents to crime could also draw them together, and it would explain why a version of Batman would want to use The Flash's speed to stop evil. The movie, while finally on the way, is still over a year from release, so hopefully a clearer picture will be laid out beforehand.