Welcome to the 26th installment of Page One Rewrite, where I examine genre screenplays that just couldn’t make it. This week, a Flash movie that would've predated both the Scarlet Speedster's film and Ryan Reynolds' superhero debut. And if you have future suggestions, please let me know on Twitter.

With his role as Hollywood's "comic book guy" affirmed by his work on Batman Begins, the Blade trilogy, and other early Marvel projects, Warner Bros. had enough faith in screenwriter/director David S. Goyer to give him his choice of DC superhero for development in 2004. He selected The Flash, with specific visuals in mind to dramatize the super-speed gimmick. And based on their experience together on Blade Trinity, Goyer publicly stated his intention to have not-quite-B-list actor Ryan Reynolds star.

While Barry Allen is traditionally the go-to Flash for live-action, Goyer's inspiration drew from the post-Crisis DC canon. Following the comics' example, this is the story of a young slacker named Wally West attempting to live up to his Uncle Barry's example as the Flash.

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Wally West - Underachiever and Proud of it

Blade: Trinity's Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) standing shirtless in a room with a beat up face.

The finished 2006 screenplay attempts to simplify Flash continuity while staying true to the larger picture. A flashback in the opening establishes Barry Allen as the Flash, his identity known only to his wife Iris and his best friend, a cop named Hunter Zolomon. Wally West is Barry's adolescent nephew, on the path of becoming a screw-up at best and a criminal at worst.

The story is set in Keystone City, described as "the blue collar capital of the Mid-west." Barry is a "kind-faced man, well-built, with close-cropped blond hair," and Wally is "a redheaded bundle of attitude," who we meet aiming a slingshot at a model home. He has frequent run-ins with a beat cop named Chyre.

There is no colorful Flash Museum to honor Barry. In fact, due to his super-speed and aversion to publicity, the Flash is viewed as an urban legend. The villainous Victor Vesp has discerned Barry's secret, however, and with the aid of his flunky Edmund Sloe (Goyer's creation, and that's some name, isn't it?) Vesp arranges an elaborate means of stealing Barry's speed powers.

Wally is used as a hostage and forced to witness Barry's death when Vesp's Infinity Transducer device explodes. The blast bathes Wally in light, injures Vesp in a mysterious way, and leaves Hunter Zolomon crushed under debris as the building collapses.

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Ignoring the Hero's Call

The Flash's costume as it was seen in The CW TV series.

Twelve years later, Wally is an aimless twenty-something, skating through life, never taking anything too seriously, and, well, looking and sounding like Ryan Reynolds. Officer Chyre is now Captain Chyre, and he's dating Iris. Both encourage Wally to do something with his life, but he refuses to listen.

After a public fight with his ex's new boyfriend, Wally is bailed out of jail by Hunter, who now uses a wheelchair. Again the idea is repeated that Wally's afraid of letting Barry down, so he never tries, and never commits.

Despondent, Wally drives to Vesp's chateau, which is now a monument to Barry. He hears Barry's voice as a sudden thunderstorm erupts. A lightning bolt then strikes Wally. When he awakes, Wally perceives time differently. A brief blue shimmer consumes his hospital room.

Related: 10 Greatest DC Superhero Movie Performances By Oscar Winners

An image of The Turtle fighting The Flash in DC Comics

In the Iron Heights prison yard, Vesp reads a newspaper account of Wally's lightning strike. Vesp is nicknamed the Turtle by the inmates, because his metabolism now moves unnaturally slowly, due to the explosion. He's visited by Sloe, who Turtle orders to surveil Wally. Oddly enough, even though some iteration of the Turtle goes all the way back to the Golden Age, Goyer seems to be the first to assign a civilian name to the villain.

Not only does Wally have the traditional accelerated metabolism/appetite from every Flash origin story, but he's grown a shaggy beard, shoulder-length hair, and long fingernails overnight. Revealing that Barry went through similar issues when tapping the Speed Force, Hunter speculates Barry gifted Wally with the Speed Force; that second jolt of lightning set it free.

Dr. Jerry McGee, a "medical superstar" from S.T.A.R. Labs, is called in to study Wally. At S.T.A.R., Wally meets Jerry's ex-wife, Dr. Tina McGee. Tina is Wally's love interest in the screenplay; their relationship a fairly standard "he annoys her with relentless flirtation until she finally gives in and kisses him" deal.

A test of Wally's powers causes a public commotion, revealing to Keystone that a new Flash is in town. Wally's lack of anonymity also means the city bills him for the $60 million in property damage he's caused. Still resisting any calls to follow in his uncle's footsteps, even after receiving Barry's ring (which contains the classic costume, naturally), Wally becomes a celebrity superhero. He doesn't bother to fight crime, instead filling his hours with talk show appearances, product endorsements, and "Got Milk?" ad campaigns.

Wally's forced to act as a hero when a panicked Hunter calls from his airplane, which is unable to deploy its landing gear. With Hunter's guidance, Wally manages to rescue the passengers. He doesn't grasp the significance of the girl sitting next to Hunter, holding a stuffed turtle doll, however.

Related: The Flash's Newest Trailer Shows How Important the Right Music Is

Many, Many Things Blow Up

Zoom as he appeared on The CW's Flash.

With Hunter's help, Wally matures in his role as a superhero. Elsewhere, the Turtle is freed from prison by Zoom, a rival speedster wearing a copy of Flash's costume. Zoom publicly taunts Wally, generating chaos that eventually leads to Captain Chyre's death. Briefly, it's teased that perhaps Dr. Jerry McGee, or even Barry Allen, might be Zoom.

The big revelation, though, is that Zoom is Wally's mentor, Hunter Zolomon. Turtle's experiments have stolen portions of the Speed Force from Wally, enabling Hunter to walk again. Having grown corrupted by the power, Zoom's costume shifts into a black and gold color scheme.

Hunter justifies his actions -- after twelve years in a wheelchair, it's screw-up Wally West that gets powers? The Turtle appears, attempting for a final time to steal Wally's powers with the Infinity Transducer. Wally "goes nova, erupting in a cornea-searing blast of light." The blast sends Wally twelve years into the past!

In the present day, a power-hungry Zoom draws the energy Turtle's stolen into himself. Zoom then accelerates Turtle's heart rate and kills him. In the past, Wally realizes he's inside the Speed Force in the seconds before Barry's "death." Now "composed entirely of charged light," Barry speaks to Wally.

Barry reveals he's been trapped in that moment for twelve years. He's part of the Speed Force now, not truly dead. Barry warns about the intoxication of speed but promises Wally he can handle it.

Focusing his powers, Barry stays with the Speed Force, enabling Wally to find a path back to the present. Although it's unfair, losing Barry twice, Wally agrees to go back without him. "Just tell Iris I love her, will you?" Barry asks.

Wally returns to the present day in "an optical Nagasaki" eruption. Sloe reveals Zoom's taken Dr. Tina to downtown Keystone as an electrical storm rages. A skyscraper tumbles down, the love interest is rescued, and there's a super-speed battle of hurricanes and sonic booms that covers the entire Earth and lower atmosphere. With Tina's guidance, Zoom is defeated when he receives a concentrated blast of the Speed Force.

No longer running from his uncle's shadow, Wally is determined to rescue Barry with Tina's help and juggle the whole personal life/superhero thing. Their final kiss is interrupted by his helmet's police scanner. Off he must go.

Related: The DCU's 'Flash' Film Puts a Sad Twist on Wally West’s Greatest Comic Book Moment

Fan Service

Barry Allen's costume ring as seen in The Flash (2023) swiveling open to reveal his costume.

Goyer is clearly a fan of the source material, drawing on obscure Flash supporting characters like the McGees, working in the hopelessly "unrealistic" Flash Ring, and referencing several comics creators. Wally's romantic rival is a lawyer at the Weirengo (sic), Kollins, and Waid law firm, all creators from the Wally-era Flash comics. Following the lightning strike, Wally is treated by Dr. Bates, which is a nod to longtime Flash writer Cary Bates. And one of Wally's publicity stunts occurs at Gardner Fox Arena, a tribute to the co-creator of the original Flash.

Although Dr. McGee isn't traditionally thought of as Wally's love interest, his future wife in the comics does make a cameo. Linda Park is among the throng of reporters crowding Wally in one scene, asking if he's the new Flash. The recurring "My name is Wally West. And I'm the fastest man alive." voiceover from the '90s comics also appears in the screenplay's opening and closing.

Did We Dodge a Bullet?

Barry's lightning bolt costume emblem from The Flash (2023).

The Flash is likely Goyer's strongest superhero script. It moves appropriately fast, pays homage to the character's legacy, and is filled with inventive visuals that 2006-era audiences had yet to experience. Many of Quicksilver's super slow-motion bits -- the ones fans gushed over in the later X-Men films -- are present here. And two years before Iron Man, we have a cocky hero with no interest in secret identities. The epic, larger-than-life action finale also evokes what Zack Snyder would attempt in his DC films. This is ambitious in a way superhero movies had yet to realize in the days of Superman Returns.

There's also a clever interplay between character and theme. Goyer started the project with thoughts on Flash's mythological origins but saw him as closer to Icarus than Hermes. Exploring the idea of speed as a new and addictive vice, Goyer uses Flash's powers as a commentary on how technological advancements have sped up society in unimaginable ways. When you have the capacity to experience so much so fast, where does that leave friends, family, or any quiet moment of self-reflection?

Why was the script abandoned? On his now-defunct MySpace blog, Goyer stated that "The God's honest truth is that Warner Brothers and myself simply couldn't agree on what would make for a cool Flash film." Clearly, Warners struggled with what a Flash movie should be for years. Even after ditching this script, the movie went through numerous scripts and directors, and possibly two or three cinematic universes. And while Reynolds would've suited this incarnation of Wally, this script did put the idea in certain executives' minds that Ryan Reynolds should really be a superhero. The result was Reynolds horribly miscast as Green Lantern, which is perhaps the strangest legacy for this overwhelmingly solid screenplay.