What Do The Flashpoint Teasers Mean?!

It was last April that we got our first taste of Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert’s upcoming Flash-centric event, Flashpoint. It was in the back of The Flash #1, and it got our hearts racing with possibilities and theories as to what this storyline could be about. Then things went dark. We heard nothing about Flashpoint for nearly a year. A week and a half ago the fires of speculation where reignited again by Geoff Johns and DC’s The Source blog, as a number of new teaser images for Flashpoint where posted on DC Comics’ official website.

So now we’re going to take each of these new puzzle pieces and try to give some explanation to each. We’re also going to detail some of the repercussions that could spin out of such an event if it were to occur. As an added note: this article is meant purely for speculation purposes. We have no idea what will actually happen in Flashpoint, nor the ramifications of such events.
 

Teaser #1

This is the first teaser released by DC and at face value seems like the most obvious. What is the most famous spaceship in the DCU? Answer: Kal-El’s transport to Earth from Krypton. However, what if this teaser is instead referring to Abin Sur’s spaceship that crashed on Earth and lead to Hal Jordan being the first human to receive a power ring?

The repercussions of that event never happening would be far-reaching, to say the least. For one, if Abin Sur never died, Sinestro might never have rebelled against the Green Lantern Corps for not believing the Blackest Night prophesies following Abin’s death. Therefore, if Blackest Night came true in this new timeline, it would be Abin and Sinestro fighting side-by-side against the flying dead. Maybe the White Lantern would even choose Abin as its champion.

Furthermore, humans from Earth might never have been inducted into the Green Lantern Corps. Humans have always been looked down upon by species across the galaxy because of their stubbornness and recklessness. It wasn’t until Hal Jordan joined the Corps that aliens got a better viewpoint of the human race: learning that our drive, determination and resistance to fear can be a true source of inspiration. If Abin never crashed, Hal would have never received a ring, and humans would probably never have been invited to join the Corps. That means Guy Gardner, John Stewart and even Kyle Rayner would never exist as Corpsmen.

But on the flip-side of the coin, if Hal never got a ring then Parallax would never have possessed him, leading to the near decimation of the GLC. So there’s one point in this alternative timeline working out for the better in regards to the Green Lantern Corps mortal safety.

Teaser #2

 
What would Gotham be without its Dark Knight? The simple answer: an absolute crap-shoot. In fact, if a timeline shift where to occur and Bruce Wayne wound up running a casino, odds are he’d be just as corrupt as the people he puts away now as Batman. And maybe that's what will happen. The original Flashpoint teaser in Flash #1 showed the Flash fighting a shadowy Batman with red eyes. Maybe he spends his days running a casino, while his nights are spent terrorizing the citizens of Gotham.

How about if Batman was never born at all? In light of Grant Morrison's Return of Bruce Wayne, the ramifications would be sweeping. Because of Bruce's travels through time, his legacy now dates way back, to say the least. Not only would Bruce never becoming Batman affect the lives of Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne and Barbara Gordon (to name a few), but the Miagani bat-people tribe would have never been created either. It was that snowball effect of legacy that gave Bruce Wayne the edge over defeating Darkseid in a battle through time and space. If that never happened, Darkseid probably would have won in Final Crisis and the universe would now not exist. Period. 

Teaser #3 

This teaser is the reason why I believe the spaceship one mentioned above belongs to Green Lantern. At first I thought this referred to Martian Manhunter, but then I looked at the original teaser for Flashpoint (way back in Flash #1) and saw the giant metal door with the “S” shield on it. Now I believe this teaser is meant for Superman.

Superman is the linchpin of the DC Universe. If he were imprisoned in a cell for experimentation since the moment he crashed down in Smallville, the DCU would be a much different place. To put it into simpler terms: the DCU would be owned by Lex Luthor.

Crime and corruption would run rampant in this version of the DCU. Singling out a number of significant events that would spiral out of such a monumental shift in reality is impossible. The entire DCU would be a completely different place if Kal-El never grew up with the love, care and attention of Ma and Pa Kent.

Jimmy Olsen would also be dead by now.

Teaser #4 

 
What we’re thinking for this one is that there was a ring switcheroo. In the original Flashpoint teaser there was a yellow Flash costume (presumably Reverse Flash’s) busting out of the ring on Barry Allen’s finger. He looked surprised. Our guess is that someone, possibly Eobard Thawne, is parading around wearing the regular scarlet speedster costume. Hell, maybe in this alternative timeline Eobard Thawne is the Flash, with Barry Allen the new evil Reverse-Flash. Geoff Johns has been giving a lot of face time to Thawne and his quest to ruin the life of Barry Allen in the Flash series as of late. Maybe this is his latest sick trick on poor Allen. This could also be the main plot of the Flash-centric series, Flashpoint.

Teaser #5 

We’ll be honest, we’re not sure where this one will lead. Obviously this arranged marriage would place Aquaman and Wonder Woman as the new King and Queen of Earth. They would control both sea and land with an army of Atlanteans and Amazons. Basically, Aquaman and Wonder Woman would be the new Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie. Only their power will actually make a difference. The entire world would be ruled with a strict militaristic governing body mindset. If anyone stepped out of line they would get got. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are hardcore like that. Being honest, this is probably the most interesting of the possible timeline shifts in Flashpoint. We’re all for Aquaman ruling the world and being shacked up with Wonder Woman.

Conclusion 

That about wraps it up. We hope you enjoyed our theories on the Flashpoint teasers. Odds are we’re way off on our speculation. But we won’t know until Flashpoint launches in May. Now if you have a better idea of what these teasers mean, let us know in the comments below!  
 

Update 

DC released the list of titles we can expect. 

Whatever Happened to Gotham City?

FLASHPOINT: BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1-#3

Whatever Happened to the World’s Greatest Super Villains?

FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE & THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #1-#3

Whatever Happened to the Aliens?

FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR THE GREEN LANTERN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: PROJECT: SUPERMAN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Science & Magic?

FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN & THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Europe?

FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1-#3

Everything You Know Will Change in a Flash

FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1-#3