The Flash

As is tradition, the recently passed Super Bowl (the 57th, for those keeping score) brought a bevy of fresh trailers anticipating the summer blockbuster season. Among the most interesting of these was Warner Bros’ latest effort in the DC cinematic universe, The Flash. Despite having enjoyed a small-screen run in the Arrowverse that covers nine seasons and is still counting, this would be Barry Allen’s first foray in a stand-alone feature film.

The trailer begins with a ticking motif that continues to be prevalent as a defining sound in modern trailers, albeit it feels especially salient here as the subject is squarely about time—and time travel, specifically. The ticking quickly speeds up to an audiovisual blackout at 0:19, culminating in a single piano tone (another arguably overused trope, but still effective in this context). A bowed cymbal lends an eerie undercurrent as Barry explains his motive for fighting in the same timeline: saving his mother. At 0:28 we hear an oscillating motif along the minor scale with the reverberant piano staying in the arrangement, now accompanied by a bed of synths—lending the ambiance a sci-fi edge.

Notice at 0:42 how the music slips into a parallel major key. This occurs when The Flash appears to enter a different timeline—or, arguably, universe (a split timeline appears to be tantamount to another universe in the DC cinematic universe’s logic). As such, this parallel key change serves as an effective metaphor for this shifting. Later, at 1:32—perhaps taking a page from the Spider-Man: No Way Home playbook—we see what turns out to be Michael Keaton’s Batman (originally from the 1989 film). With it, we get a slowly rising motif again with solo piano—but even slowed down, it’s unmistakable—this is Danny Elfman’s iconic 1989 motif, which has endured throughout the animated series and beyond. At 1:46 we’re treated to a full orchestral rendition of the theme as we see Keaton in action, replete with epic percussion in triplets, as is often the case in epic trailer music.

At 1:54 we see an action montage with a more general epic music track to ride things out, the trailer having previously spent significant time focusing on themes for the Flash and Batman. Keaton’s Batman, in particular, is notably almost more of a point of focus than the titular hero. Certainly, the comments on the YouTube video bear this out—and the screen time and musical motifs certainly suggest the trailer music editors agree. As a possible harbinger of developments to come, the extended trailer is rounded out by multiple turn phrases (2:13, 2:33, 2:45), which here respectively introduce (largely) unaccompanied dialogue with a serious, ironic, and comedic tone.

— Curtis Perry