The Flash premiered in theaters on June 13 after receiving a contradicting bevy of both positive and negative press. As early as 2020, fans became excited about the film when it was reported Michael Keaton was in talks to reprise his role as Batman for the first time in over 30 years. The excitement was only amplified when it was revealed that Michael Shannon’s General Zod was also returning and that the film would see Sasha Calle’s DCU debut as Supergirl.
In March 2022, though, The Flash started gaining attention for the growing notoriety of its lead star, Ezra Miller, who has been involved in numerous controversies and run-ins with the law. Hence, viewers weren’t quite sure how to feel about the film moving forward. Now that it’s here, it has received mixed-to-positive reviews. While not living up to some of the hype, it did feature strong performances from Keaton and Calle. Both of them stole every scene they appeared in and proved to be more formidable heroes than even the two Millers/Flashes. Viewers were also intrigued to see Ben Affleck’s Batman in the film alongside Keaton’s iteration.
The Flash took advantage of its alternate universe premise and brought back several actors like Keaton and Shannon. As a result, some were wondering how much further the film could stretch the alternate universe premise. After all, Spider-Man: No Way Home featured three whole Spider-Mans due to its multiverse premise. So, did The Flash surprise viewers by dropping one more fan-favorite Batman??
Is Christian Bale’s Batman in The Flash?
Sadly, Bale does not appear in The Flash either as CGI or physically. There wasn’t ever really any evidence that he would be in the film, but viewers hoped he would nonetheless. One can only imagine the excitement that would’ve ensued if The Flash succeeded in keeping his cameo secret until the film premiered.
Fans were so hopeful of his appearance that they even tried to find evidence of his cameo before the film was released. After The Flash‘s trailer dropped, some fans were convinced that they had spotted him in it. The alleged spotting starts at about 1:55 in the trailer on YouTube and sees a Batman riding on a Batmobile and dodging a car hurtling through the air.
The shot is very brief, with Batman’s cape and cowl being all you can really see of the character. However, fans began questioning if they had spotted a Bale cameo.
As the film confirmed, viewers weren’t actually glimpsing Bale’s secret cameo in the trailer. That was Affleck’s Batman on the Batmobile in the scene in question. Some users figured this out before the film’s premiere, too. They pointed out that set photos had surfaced earlier showing Affleck and his stunt double filming a scene with an identical Batmobile as seen in the trailer. Other users also pointed out that the height of the ears on Batman’s cowl in the scene in question is far too short to be Bale’s.
With rumors of his cameo being debunked early on, it wasn’t too surprising that Bale didn’t appear in The Flash, but his absence was still felt.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
