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The following contains spoilers for The Flash, now playing in theaters.
When fans heard The Flash would indeed be adapting Flashpoint, many were excited to see which Elseworld characters would factor in. From the trailers, Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck appeared as Batmen, while Sasha Calle's Supergirl is front and center instead of Superman.
Interestingly, The Flash's action-packed ending has many more special appearances when various versions of the Scarlet Speedster end up in a time bubble known as the chronosphere. They literally see multiple worlds colliding, which leads to the Arrowverse also getting a nod. However, the scene misses the chance to address another jaw-dropping crossover that happened in the past on The CW, which fans of the Flash series would have loved.
The Flash Ignores Grant Gustin's Barry Allen
In the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, Grant Gustin's Flash entered the Speed Force as the Multiverse frayed. He ended up in the Snyderverse's STAR Labs where he came face to face with Ezra Miller's Barry Allen. The CW-Flash even gave the Snyderverse-Flash the idea for his nickname as they marveled at each other's suit amid the confusion of multiple Barrys existing. The Barrys eventually got back to their respective realities, leaving fans thinking the show's Flash would appear on the big screen in return.
However, while Barry Prime, Alt-Barry and the Dark Flash see various realities, they see a generic Golden Age Jay Garrick that looks a lot like Teddy Sears (something Sears has denied). That said, if the Arrowverse was due a cameo, why wouldn't it be its most iconic face from Central City? It would have been a perfect payoff, with Barry Prime seeing a familiar figure once more racing around in another world.
To start with, Gustin is quite recognizable, while that pseudo-Sears visual isn't as much. Not to mention, Sears was really a villain, Zoom, who pretended to be Jay, so any sense of altruism isn't really felt seeing a nod to his Jay. Had it been the CW-Barry, however, that would have been more emotional. It would've even brought Miller's journey full circle in a clear-cut manner by revisiting his cameo with Gustin's Flash.
The Flash May Have Created a Temporal Plot Hole
It's worth noting how in The Flash movie, Barry Prime is shocked at the idea another him exists. He also can't believe there's a Michael Keaton Batman in place of Ben Affleck's. He has to be told other people can have the same names, which is odd and brings the Arrowverse's canonicity into question. While Crisis is set before The Flash film -- as noted by the fact Barry has the old-school Snyder suit -- he's still heard saying he told Vic of other realities or world-bending.
Given what the Arrowverse previously established, the movie's Barry shouldn't be stunned to see there's another him, or different people as Bruce Wayne. After all, he literally saw another man as a Barry Allen in Gustin's Flash. Had the movie presented Barry in his old suit experimenting with time travel early on to figure out how to save Nora and meeting the Arrowverse Flash along the way, that would have been an easy way of reconciling both properties.
Conversely, the time sphere could have simply shown the movie-Barrys watching the crossover happen to show them other forms exist as the various worlds crush each other. Ultimately, the movie has its Barry as a man who isn't aware of parallel versions of himself. It suggests what transpired on DC TV may well have been ignored and that the series' canon isn't in play anymore.
The Flash is now playing in theaters.