The Big DC Detail You Missed In The Flash's New Snyder Cut Scene
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The world is currently in the middle of watching, analyzing, and hopefully enjoying Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max. At four hours, Snyder's version of Justice League is packed to the brim with a lot of awesome new scenes and, most importantly, clever Easter eggs and nods to DC Comics' grand superhero history. Yet the Snyder Cut probably pays its greatest respect to that history and the origin of the League thanks to a crucial scene with the team's speedster.
Now, Flash fans may have already been pleasantly surprised thanks to the appearance of Iris West. Per Vulture, Iris, the future love interest of Barry Allen, was initially cut from the theatrical version of Justice League but appears in Snyder's Cut. Flash comes to Iris' rescue by saving her from a truck that almost kills her. Eagle-eyed viewers and hardcore comics fans might have picked up on the name on the side of that truck: "Gard'ner Fox." That was an Easter egg dedicated to comic book writer Gardner Fox, who is responsible for the creation of the Justice League, Flash, and at least some of comic books' obsession with multiple universes.
Gardner Fox created the Flash and the Justice League
Gardner Fox's contribution to superhero comic books cannot be understated. As noted by Syfy, for one, he created the Flash along with artist Harry Lampart. And the writer is responsible for not only two iconic superhero teams but perhaps the concept of a super-team as we know it. In 1940, he and his editor Sheldon Mayer came up with the idea of the Justice Society Of America, a team comprised of DC's Golden Age superheroes. Modern fans may be familiar with the JSA thanks to The CW's Stargirl. The team consisted of Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom, Hawkman Dr. Fate, the Sandman, Hour-Man, and the Spectre.
During the '50s Silver Age of Comics, when asked by his editors to bring back a new version of the JSA, Fox created the Justice League, which placed the big heroes of that era together for the first time. This, of course, included Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.
The JSA and the Justice League have teamed up countless times together in comics. But, via Polygon, the first time the two teams would come together was in 1963, again thanks to Fox, in Justice League Of America #21, called "Crisis On Earth-One." (The next issue was called "Crisis On Earth-Two.") The teams come together through a séance. It's a great comic book story, but more importantly, it's an example of another major Fox contribution: the DC Multiverse.
Gardner Fox had two Flashes meet for the first time
Justice League Of America #21 subtly explored the idea of the DC Multiverse, but the first instance of that concept came thanks to the Flash, or rather two of them. According to Comics Alliance, Fox's Flash #123 was an issue where the Silver Age version of the Flash meets with the Golden Age version. This was not only the first instance of an "Earth-2" with its own heroes being mentioned or shown but also the first time that the concept of a multiverse within DC Comics was introduced.
Flash would also seem to become an important character whenever the DC Multiverse comes into the forefront. The hero plays important roles in Crisis On Infinite Earths and Flashpoint, which are two of DC Comics' biggest multiverse-centric stories. Considering this, and Fox co-creating the Flash along with artist Harry Lampart, it makes perfect sense why Snyder put the Easter egg in the way he did.
It truly comes full circle.