A piece of crew merchandise may offer a clue as to who will be the main antagonist in Warner Bros. and DC Films' The Flash.
Stunt performer Shane Steyn shared a photo of the t-shirts issued to the stunt team in October 2021, though it largely went under the radar until it started making the rounds recently. The shirt itself features the film's title and silhouettes of Batman and Supergirl, but perhaps most notable is the silhouette of a specter-like Flash some fans believe is Black Flash.
Created by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Ron Wagner, Black Flash debuted in 1998's The Flash #141. The character is more or less the equivalent of Death for the DC Universe's speedsters, returning them to the Speed Force upon expiration. Though Black Flash shares some similarities with the Jack Kirby-created Black Racer, they're two distinct characters; the former has previously appeared in live-action in The CW's The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.
In August 2021, it was reported that The Flash would pit Ezra Miller's Barry Allen against an evil doppelgänger, and the footage that came out of DC FanDome did, in fact, feature two versions of the Scarlet Speedster. It's worth noting that in 2009's The Flash: Rebirth #2, Barry is temporarily transformed into the Black Flash due to Professor Zoom's machinations with the Speed Force.
While the villain of The Flash has yet to be confirmed, fans can expect to see a number of DC mainstays in the forthcoming film, such as Sasha Calle's Supergirl and Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton's Batmen. "I have never said this -- this is hot off the presses -- but maybe my favorite scenes in terms of Batman and the interpretation of Batman that I have done, were in the Flash movie," Affleck recently said. "I hope they maintain the integrity of what we did because I thought it was great and really interesting -- different, but not in a way that is incongruent with the character. Who knows? Maybe they will decide that it doesn't work, but when I went and did it, it was really fun and really, really satisfying and encouraging and I thought, 'Wow -- I think I have finally figured it out.'"
Directed by Andy Muscietti, The Flash arrives in theaters Nov. 4.