Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The FlashThe Flash debuts Barry Allen’s mother, but questions remain about how she died in the DC movie. In The Flash, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) decides to travel into the past to save the life of his mother Nora Allen (Maribel Verdú), but his altruistic mission instead brings devastating consequences for his universe. With the unexpected return of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his Kryptonian army, it is up to Barry to save the world and undo the calamity he has caused.
The Flash is a huge multiversal event for DC on film, with Miller portraying two versions of Barry Allen and Michael Keaton’s Batman also along for the ride. At the center of The Flash is Barry’s determination to save his mother from her death in the past. Here is what The Flash revealed about how Barry lost his mother as a child.
Everything The Flash Movie Revealed About How Barry’s Mom Dies
Through flashbacks and time travel, The Flash reveals how Barry Allen’s mother died when he was a child. While Barry was upstairs and his father Henry Allen (Ron Livingston) was at the grocery store getting a can of tomatoes, Nora is attacked in the kitchen of their house and stabbed with a knife. Returning home and finding Nora with the killer nowhere to be found, Henry tells Barry to call 911. Obviously, it’s a hugely traumatic event for the young Barry to witness, especially after Henry is wrongly convicted for Nora’s murder.
The Flash shows Barry visiting the house where he grew up as an adult, vividly experiencing the flashback as young Barry runs outside his house to call for help. It speaks to how much emphasis The Flash places on Nora Allen’s murder as the event that shattered Barry Allen’s world. As such, it makes sense that Flash decides to explore his ability to time travel and alter the past shortly afterward.
How Barry Allen’s Mom Dies In The Comics
Eobard Thawne a.k.a. the Reverse-Flash is canonically the killer of Nora Allen in the comics. In the original Flashpoint storyline from DC Comics, Barry’s decision to travel back in time to save Nora creates an alternate timeline in which Atlantis and Themyscira are at war, Thomas Wayne became Batman instead of Bruce, and numerous other apocalyptic changes. Barry’s changes to the timeline also make Thawne into a nigh-invincible Speedster whose mastery of the Speed Force exceeds Barry’s own.
The Flash movie includes antagonists like alternate versions of General Zod and Faora. There’s also a dark version of Barry known as Dark Flash, Barry’s younger self who gains powers yet refuses to reconcile the fact that saving Nora dooms the world. Trying multiple times over, this Flash grows old and corrupted in his continued attempts to save the world so that Nora can live, but it simply can’t be done. However, the Reverse-Flash does not appear in the movie due to these new circumstances compared to the original Flashpoint storyline.
What Happens To Barry’s Dad After Nora Allen Dies
In the comics, the murder of Nora Allen leads to Henry Allen being wrongfully imprisoned for her murder. This became a cornerstone of the story of The Flash TV series starring Grant Gustin in the Arrowverse. It also carried over into Zack Snyder’s Justice League, with Henry Allen (played by Billy Crudup in the film) in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing Nora.
Despite his father’s pleas that he move on with his life, Barry Allen spends his time trying to help his father from the outside. He pursues a criminal justice degree in the hopes of exonerating him, and he lands a job at a Central City crime lab. Obviously, Henry’s fate gives Barry even more motivation to travel back in time, saving his mother’s life and preventing his father’s imprisonment at the same time.
How Barry Allen Saves His Father In The Flash Movie Explained
Although Barry is unable to save his mom without dooming the universe, he does manage to save his dad from his wrongful imprisonment. Coming to terms that his mother must inevitably die, Barry removes the can of tomatoes he’d placed in her cart to ensure his dad wouldn’t leave the house during the murder. While this would have restored the original timeline, Barry does make one last change by placing the tomato cans on the top shelf so that the store’s security cameras pick up his father’s face.
In the present, the altered camera footage supports Henry’s alibi during his appeal, leading to his release from prison. However, it’s worth noting that Barry’s smaller action still creates an alternate timeline with new changes beyond Henry’s release, such as George Clooney becoming Batman as opposed to Keaton or Affleck. As such, it will be interesting to see if this new timeline is indeed the soft reboot for the DCU as envisioned by new DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Will The Flash 2 Reveal How Barry’s Mom Died?
Interestingly enough, there are still specifics behind Nora’s death that are still unknown such as the identity of her actual murderer. This might have been left vague intentionally, leaving the door open for a potential sequel where the Reverse-Flash could be revealed as the true killer (just like in the Flashpoint comic). Either way, the love Barry Allen had for his mother and the decision he makes to let her go in The Flash provides a central story that is as tragic as it is heartfelt.
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