The Flash: Post-credits scene explained and what it means for the future of DC

The Flash, the new film in a DCEU that is approaching its twilight to make way for James Gunn’s new DCU, is already in theaters around the world. And although its debut at the box office was rather modest in its first weekend - even below that of Black Adam - Andy Muschietti’s new film hides numerous surprises and cameos whose aim is none other than to pay homage to DC’s cinematic history, something that fans celebrate enormously. And of course, The Flash has its own post-credits scene, but what does that mean for the future of DC in the movies? Spoiler alert from the following paragraph.

The Flash: Post-credits scene explained

But before we get to the post-credits scene, let’s revisit a final scene that might as well have been a mid-credits scene for its own sake, which is nothing more than a joke that a lot of people didn’t find funny. And is that Flash, after one last time travel to try to help his father imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and to say goodbye to his mother, returning to his -theoretical- present to leave the courthouse happy to have been able to set things right...? Or not?

Moments later, he gets a call from Bruce Wayne, who says he’s on his way in his brand-new, futuristic Mercedes-Benz. The problem is that the Bruce Wayne getting out of the car is not Ben Affleck’s Batman, but George Clooney’s Batman, the actor who played the Dark Knight in the despised 1997 Batman & Robin. The gag ends with Barry’s tooth popping out of his dentures as a surprise. A scene that has no relevance whatsoever, and is nothing more than another cameo from DC’s past, as a joke, since Clooney will in no way continue as Batman in the movies.

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Now, let’s move on to a post-credits scene that? also has no relevance to the future DCU. In fact, we see Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen (Flash) leaving a bar with a very, very drunk Arthur Curry (Aquaman) played by Jason Momoa. Flash tells Aquaman about his time traveling to other realities, and that there is a different Batman in each of them, but that Aquaman is always the same. Aquaman falls into a pool of water “where he feels at home” and gives Flash a ring; Flash decides to go home in front of an Aquaman who can barely walk because he’s so drunk.

An ending that, somewhat ambiguously, serves as an excuse to see Jason Momoa back as Aquaman in the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December 2023, the last DCEU film before the 2024 hiatus to make way for James Gunn’s new DCU in 2025 with Superman Legacy.