‘The Flash’ Cameos: All the Batmen and Supermen, Plus That Post-Credits Scene Explained (2024)

Jun 16, 2023 2:00pm PT

• Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

  

  Gal Gadot returns as Wonder Woman in the opening heist of the movie, when she saves Ben Affleck’s Batman as he precariously dangles below a bridge with a crook. Using her Lasso of Truth, she even pries some hilarious secrets from the Caped Crusader and Flash. After her other cameo in “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” this may be the last we see of Gadot’s Wonder Woman for a while, unless she pops up in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” or somewhere in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe.

• Jason Momoa as Aquaman

  

  In the post-credits scene, Jason Momoa returns as Aquaman, albeit roaring drunk on a street with Barry Allen. He falls into a puddle of dirty water just outside of Barry’s apartment. When Barry tries to help him, Arthur Curry refuses to stand up, clearly at home in the water. Does it make sense? No. Does it appear to set up anything in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” releasing in December? Also no. Hopefully, Arthur sobers up in time for his return!

• Henry Cavill as Superman

  

  Henry Cavill himself doesn’t appear in “The Flash,” but we see his Superman — well, from behind — fighting a volcanic eruption on TV as Barry Allen is called to a mission in Gotham City. A shirtless Cavill created from CGI also appears during a trippy, Speed Force montage.

• George Clooney as Batman

  

  In the final scene of the movie, Barry Allen leaves the courthouse after proving his father’s innocence and gets a call from his pal Bruce Wayne (played earlier in the movie by Ben Affleck) congratulating him on the outcome. Barry sees a fancy car drive up, but instead of Affleck, or even Keaton, George Clooney’s version of Bruce —from 1997’s infamous “Batman and Robin” — steps outside. Surprise!

  It’s quite likely that Clooney’s appearance is nothing more that a fun, comedic button meant to signal that “The Flash” signifies the beginning of the end of the DC cinematic universe that has existed since 2013’s “Man of Steel.” But given the metaphysical rules of the multiverse established earlier in the film, Clooney appearance also suggests that Barry did not return to the exact same DC cinematic as before, which raises several (perhaps unanswerable) questions. Would Clooney return for a more robust appearance as the Dark Knight in a future DC film? Would “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” which will be directed by “The Flash’s” Andy Muschietti, take place in this universe? Or will the new DCU leave this and all other past DC worlds behind? As the Flash knows all too well, only time will tell.

• Nicolas Cage as Superman

  

  Nicolas Cage nearly played Superman in director Tim Burton’s scrapped movie “Superman Lives” in 1998. During the Speed Force sequence at the end of “The Flash,” audience get to see Cage —or, at least, a CGI version of a younger Cage — don the suit with some long black hair while he fights a giant tarantula.

• Christopher Reeve as Superman and Helen Slater as Supergirl

  

  CGI versions of Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater appear as their Kryptonian heroes during the Speed Force sequence. Reeve, who died 2004, famously starred in four “Superman” films in the late ’70s and ’80s, and Slater led a “Supergirl” spinoff in 1984.

• Adam West as Batman

  

  Adam West’s cheesy ’60s Batman appears briefly during the Speed Force scene. He starred as the Caped Crusader in his “Batman” TV series from 1966-68 and 1966 film. Burt Ward as his sidekick Robin, and Cesar Romero as the Joker, also show up briefly.

• George Reeves as Superman

  

  During the Speed Force scene, George Reeves’ black-and-white Superman reappears in a different world. Reeves previously played the Man of Steel in the 1951 film “Superman and the Mole Men” and the ’50s TV show “Adventures of Superman,” which originally broadcasted in black and white.

• Teddy Sears as Jay Garrick's The Flash

  

  Ezra Miller isn’t the only Flash in the movie. Teddy Sears cameos as Jay Garrick, the first person to take up the Flash mantle. He appears in his comic-accurate, old-fashioned red suit and winged helmet. In The CW’s “The Flash” TV series, Sears played the evil speedster Zoom, who briefly pretended to be Garrick.

• Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry

  

  Halfway through the film, when Barry Allen is trying to find the Justice League in his new reality, “Star Wars” actor Temuera Morrison returns as Aquaman’s father, Thomas Curry. Barry calls a number for Aquaman’s lighthouse, only to discover that Thomas never had a son and was never married to the queen of Atlantis. It turns out in that world, the only Arthur Curry is Thomas’ dog, not Jason Momoa’s buff superhero.

• Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth

  

  Not only is Ben Affleck’s Batman back, but his butler Alfred Pennyworth, played by Jeremy Irons, also returns at the beginning of “The Flash.” From the safety of the Batcave, Alfred helps Barry Allen save free-falling babies and a nurse from an explosion at the Gotham City Hospital.

• Director Andy Muschietti

  

  “The Flash” director himself, Andy Muschietti, appears briefly in the movie as a man eating a hotdog. The filmmaker is staying in the DC Universe for now, as he’s confirmed to direct “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.”

• 'Game of Thrones Star' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

  

  Jaime Lannister doesn’t appear in “The Flash,” but the “Game of Thrones” star has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo as a man eating pizza. He gets a special thank you in the end credits.