Twelve days ago, Grant Morrison jumped onto Reddit for a Q&A that quickly became more revealing than fans probably expected. The legendary comic book writer, known for redefining characters like Batman, Superman, and the X-Men, was there to promote their new Batman/Deadpool comic. But once fans had them online, the real questions started flying faster than Barry Allen on caffeine.
When someone asked what their favorite comic was, Morrison didn’t hesitate: “My personal favourite is The Filth but that’s an acquired taste! My favourite superhero comic I’ve written is probably All-Star Superman issue #10.” Then, when quizzed on which comic everyone should read, they went classic: “That was harder than I thought! The Dark Knight Returns.”
But fans sat up when a fan asked about The Flash movie script Grant Morrison co-wrote with Ezra Miller. Morrison’s answer? “It belongs to the studio so it’s not up to me to release the script! I was given two weeks to write it and worked like the Flash himself to create a first draft I thought was pretty great! Some serious work could have made it the ultimate Flash movie! Zoom was there, and Captain Cold played a big part, along with the Thinker, of all people!”
Two weeks. That’s less time than most of us need to finish a Netflix series, and somehow Morrison managed to write what sounds like a better Flash film than what we eventually got. Instead of the rogues’ gallery Morrison mentioned, the final 2023 version gave us General Zod, a Superman villain, plus a multiverse plot trying to wrap up the DCEU before James Gunn hit the reset button. Many fans felt it turned into a Batman-and-Supergirl movie with a bit of Flash sprinkled in.
It’s almost poetic how Morrison described their writing process. Speaking to Rolling Stone back in 2022, they recalled Miller flying to Scotland with “a book of ideas.” The two collaborated intensely for a fortnight. “It really was just the two of us. [Ezra] came over here to Scotland and hung out, and we wrote this thing. I really liked it. They only gave us two weeks! It was cruelty, you know. It was hardcore. We had to be like the Flash to get this thing done.”
Their version didn’t lean into the multiverse chaos Warner Bros. wanted. Instead, it was an actual Flash story, something about the man behind the speed. “It didn’t do the job they were looking for,” Morrison said. “They wanted to franchise things and bring other characters in.”
Of course, The Flash movie that hit cinemas drew loose inspiration from Flashpoint, with Barry trying to save his mother, Nora Allen, and accidentally tearing holes in reality. But where Hodson’s script focused on cameos and cleanup, Morrison’s concept sounds more like a genuine character-driven adventure.
Given their history of turning superhero tropes on their heads, see All-Star Superman or Animal Man, Grant Morrison’s The Flash movie could have been something special for the DCEU. Maybe one day we’ll see it leak, as so many abandoned superhero scripts eventually do. For now, it’s just another what-if in the ever-tangled story of the DCEU.
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