Kiersey Clemons will appear as Iris West in the DCEU Flash movie after debuting in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Is this a step towards Snyder canon?
The return of Kiersey Clemons in The Flash is a positive omen for Zack Snyder's Justice League becoming DCEU canon. After 4 years of controversy, billboards and hashtags, the Snyder cut will finally drop on HBO Max in a matter of days. It seems that Zack Snyder's Justice League will sit separately from established DCEU canon, which still honors the 2017 theatrical cut at present. Given the ever-declining reputation of Joss Whedon's edit, however, many are questioning whether the Snyder cut could be adopted as official canon, should the film prove successful. And since Zack Snyder's Justice League will end on a massive Darkseid cliffhanger, replacing the 2017 Justice League in DCEU canon could facilitate a continuation of Snyder's story.
One beneficiary of the Snyder cut is actress Kiersey Clemons, who was cast as Barry Allen's comic book love interest, Iris West, for Justice League while Snyder was still at the helm. Iris was one of many characters axed during post-production, but will finally make her DC debut in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Reports now claim that Clemons has been cast as Iris in 2022's upcoming DCEU The Flash movie, starring alongside Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton.
Clemons' return could be interpreted as a big step towards making the Snyder cut canon. Since the actress has never officially appeared in the DCEU, The Flash could've easily recast Iris without disrupting franchise continuity. Instead, producers have chosen the actress who will make her bow in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Furthermore, Iris' return in The Flash draws a clear connecting line between the Snyder cut and the main DCEU series. As seen in trailers, Zack Snyder's Justice League includes the first meeting of Barry and Iris, when the speedster uses his powers to save her from a road accident before promptly running away. Barry and Iris will presumably be an established couple in The Flash, which means the 2022 DCEU movie is effectively continuing a plot from the Snyder cut.
There's still a long way to go before Zack Snyder's Justice League is officially enshrined into canon. Perhaps Warner Bros. simply liked Clemons' audition and cutting her was purely a Whedon call, or maybe there's a contractual situation that makes recasting the character tricky. There's also the worst case scenario that The Flash will actually retell the first meeting of Barry and Iris differently to Snyder, thereby ruling Zack Snyder's Justice League out of canon forever. Nevertheless, the DCEU retaining Kiersey Clemons as Iris West is the clearest sign yet that Zack Snyder's Justice League might have a role to play in future movies.
If the DCEU is planning to retcon 2017's Justice League with the improved 2021 iteration, The Flash is the perfect movie in which to do that. By reintroducing Michael Keaton as Batman, The Flash looks to be bringing every live-action DC release under one multiverse banner - and somewhere out there could be a world where Steppenwolf looked like a monster, and Henry Cavill had a normal upper lip to go with his black suit. The multiverse gimmick has been used in both comics and TV to rewrite continuity and clear up plot holes where necessary. The Flash could easily take advantage of Barry's infamous time meddling to right the wrongs of 2017 in official DCEU canon, and Iris West's return is an early hint towards that wish becoming reality.
