How to prep for The Flash, in as few movies as possible
The Flash multiverse doesn’t require as much homework as you might think—just a revisit with Batman, Superman, and Marty McFly

The following includes some minor spoilers from The Flash. Reader discretion is advised.
Less than nine months after Warner Bros. Discovery announced its series of interconnected DC-branded films would undergo yet another reboot, The Flash is finally speed-forcing its way to theaters, dredging the remains of Warner’s last decade with it. Regardless of how insecure Warner Bros. has become about spoilers of the studio’s latest attempt at attracting an audience to its formerly divisive, now fledgling DC Cinematic Universe, the movie is far more streamlined and self-contained than we’ve been trained to believe.
Fifteen years of Marvel movies have taught us that one doesn’t simply walk into a multiplex without watching three films and a TV series first. Yet, one could probably enjoy The Flash without having seen a Flash comic book, let alone the dozen or so DC movies it follows. In that way The Flash more closely resembles its animated siblings, The Lego Batman Movie and Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, than The Suicide Squad. Despite some surprising cameos, Easter eggs, and bridges to other universes, director Andy Muschetti focuses on his titular character and allows the surprises to be accouterment.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no homework. This is a superhero movie, after all, and at this point, each one is a sequel to something, and The Flash is no exception—even if one doesn’t need to see all 14 DC movies to get their money’s worth. But there are a few films that most movie-goers should see before lacing up their boots and taking a run with the Scarlet Speedster.