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The following contains spoilers for The Flash, in theaters now.
Most superhero movies juggle an adventurous tone and comedy -- whether light banter as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the more sardonic gags of The Suicide Squad -- with character-driven drama. It's those personal stories that give the aliens, gods and wizards a core of humanity, regardless of their abilities. But it's rare that tragedy becomes the core element of a superhero film.
That changes with The Flash. Although the film's fairly joke-heavy, the humor is liberally used to keep the tone from becoming too bleak. The Flash plays with a lot of tragic elements and doesn't give any of them an ideal happy ending. While there have been tragedies in superhero movies, the latest adventure of Barry Allen turns the entire film into a tragedy.
What Makes The Flash a Tragedy
At the core of The Flash is a genuinely somber storyline, adapted largely from the set-up of 2011's Flashpoint. Realizing that his ability to travel through time gives him the ability to undo the death of his mother and prevent his father from wrongfully going to jail for her murder, Barry Allen risks the universe to save her. At first glance, this decision works out just fine -- his mother is alive and well, his father is safe and free, and even the Barry in the new timeline seems more well-adjusted (if more frustrating, being a slacker). But Flash's actions have also resulted in a universe where Aquaman was never born, Superman was killed as an infant and Wonder Woman never existed. Meanwhile, Supergirl landed in Russia instead of America -- leading to her capture and imprisonment -- and Batman is a retired recluse.
All of this is established before Zod proves unstoppable by the limited heroes left in the world, with Flash eventually forced to accept -- after Batman and Supergirl's repeated deaths at the hands of Zod and his forces -- that his mother's death is something he can't change. Without the goofy jokes that the film uses to keep things light or the character dynamics between the heroes, The Flash is a relentlessly dour film. And it takes on even sadder elements beyond the Scarlet Speedster's parental loss.
The Flash Gives Batman & Supergirl Fully Tragic Endings
Batman and Supergirl are also given tragic stories in The Flash -- a far cry from other adaptations of the characters. Plenty of Batman adaptations have focused on darker aspects of the character, but even gritty approaches like The Batman still had a bittersweet sense of heroism and purpose. By contrast, Michael Keaton's Batman in The Flash is shown to be lost just being Bruce Wayne. He's seemingly spent years out of costume, isolated in a collapsing mansion. There are no sidekicks, lovers or family to keep him going. He relishes donning the cape and cowl again and only looks happy while mending his wounds. This lends itself to the idea that Batman wants to find a good ending, something other older incarnations of the character (most famously in The Dark Knight Returns) repeatedly brought up. Batman's final scene in the film is him finally at peace, thanking Barry for helping him find a renewed sense of life just as the last of it drains from his body.
Supergirl is isolated not by choice, but by chance. If she'd landed in Kansas or elsewhere, she may have been taken in by someone like the Kents. But instead, she was captured by the Russian military and contained within a tiny prison. This deprived her not just of sunlight and power, but any true empathy for humanity. She's initially unconcerned with helping stop Zod and only does so when she realizes the full scope of his dangerous perspective. She has all the righteous fury that should motivate a victory against the villain, especially after she discovers Kal-El's fate. Yet Zod overpowers her every time and slays her with ease. Her life is a tragedy, seemingly undone by Flash restoring the timeline -- although she could be given a new lease on life in the upcoming James Gunn-helmed DC Universe.
Even the comparison between Flashes is tragic, as it seems many of Barry's antisocial qualities and inability to create bonds with his co-workers or friends stems from the trauma of his mother's death and the resulting obsession he gained for forensic science. The alternate Barry is happy, carefree and able to get dates that the core DCEU Barry could only ever dream of. But this success means the alternate Barry lacks the necessary self-sacrifice to be a hero, almost becoming a genuine monster in his efforts to make the universe how he wants it. Even a slight win -- ensuring Barry's father can be found innocent -- results in the loss of Ben Affleck's Batman. The Flash embraces the tragedy inherent to its characters in a way no other genre film has done.
The Flash is now playing in theaters.