In January, I swapped a scene in a 4K Blu-ray movie using DaVinci Resolve. After that was successful, I thought I’d have a go at adjusting the Batfleck bike chase in The Flash (2023) to see if I could make it match as close as possible to Ben Affleck's appearances in BvS and ZSJL.
So, I edited out the humor, the poor camera angles, and the weak CGI. I gave it a high-contrast, desaturated look, brought back his proper score, and changed the suit so the cape and cowl are black/grey.
I was very happy with the result, which got me thinking about the whole movie. I liked the core concepts but really disliked a lot of the tone and execution. I started to wonder if I could take on the entire film.
Zack Snyder’s DC trilogy contains my favorite movies, so if I’m going to do this, it has to end back in the “Snyderverse” and honor the characters in that same way as much as possible. And it has to be in 4K HDR with lossless 5.1 sound. I’m very much into home theatre.
I think the very end of The Flash is horrible in every way. If I could fix the ending, I knew I could do the whole movie. I came up with an idea, made a rough edit, then went to work learning DaVinci Resolve for a full feature-length project. I’ve spent about 220 hours on this project, which includes the steep learning curve.
My rules were that I could use anything outside of the first 5 DCEU movies and ZSJL to add to this—using 4K Blu-ray sources and lossless sound wherever possible. I chose not to reuse any footage from those first five films or ZSJL unless it was for a split second (edited to look different) or a quick flashback. I wanted to avoid that typical fan-edit feeling where footage is just being reused because it fits. Same with the score; I have reused some themes from Zack’s trilogy, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
DaVinci Resolve states there are 5,317 cuts on the timeline.
The video was edited mainly from 4K HDR Blu-ray sources and was fully color-graded in HDR. While I used Shutter Encoder to create a 1080p SDR version for wider compatibility, it doesn't quite match the visual experience I originally set out to create.
The same goes for the audio. It was mixed natively in 5.1 using 24-bit and 16-bit WAV files. DaVinci Resolve has downmixed a version to stereo which is adequate for casual viewing, but the 5.1 track is the true representation of the work.
I have rescored almost anything that isn’t either Keaton Batman-related or Nora-related. While Benjamin Wallfisch's score is great for Keaton and Nora, I found it weak for the Flash and merely serviceable for the rest of the film. The issue is that outstanding themes already exist for Superman and Batman in this universe—even the small Flash motif from ZSJL—yet none of it was utilized in the theatrical cut.
I recalled hearing that Tom Holkenborg's original, unused 2017 Justice League score was later repurposed for Alita: Battle Angel. Upon tracking it down, it fit the ZSJL aesthetic perfectly. I used selections from Alita (mainly “Motorball” and “I See Church”) to fill in for the Flash's themes and action sequences.
I tested this theory and put together this crude proof-of-concept video, pairing an Alita track over a YouTube clip of ZSJL. The temp track matched the tone and pacing so perfectly.
Many reviews for The Flash 4K Blu-ray praised its dynamic range but complained that the master was far too quiet, forcing users to lift their systems by roughly 10dB. My main base layout was the theatrical 5.1 audio raised by 10dB, which I then tested and adjusted for true peak levels. After removing, adding, and replacing audio elements while protecting those ceilings, I ended up with 33 audio tracks and landed on an integrated -19.3 LUFS. It retains the intended theatrical dynamic range but corrects the overall master volume and length layout.
The entire project has been extensively tested on a professionally calibrated 4K HDR projector and a dedicated 5.2.2 home cinema setup.
Replaced Orange “Flash” based WB/DC Studio Logos with early DCEU WB/DC/Access Logos
Added Intro card “POZHARNOV: THE FLASH SAVES THE WORLD”
Added new opening credits, similar to how Zack’s follow-up movies start by beginning on a scene at the end of the last movie and picks up the moment the unity starts to destroy Earth, and Flash lifts his hand up and turns back time
Added “TWO YEARS LATER” title card
Used high contrast and desaturated colour grade all the way through
Removed clock spinning down and emphasis on the speaker, and "If You Leave Me Now" playing
Added more credits in the original opening scene
Removed lots of the interaction with the server, the pointless conversation and the humour
Removed Footage of Superman at the volcano
Removed the line to Alfred about how many first thoughts he had
Removed the interruption to the titles with the girls and the candy bar, etc.
Removed the original ‘The Flash’ title
Replaced "Salute Your Solution" with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Added some masking to the CGI or Barry running to blend it slightly better
Added Gravel skid noise
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s first Batman theme from ZSJL "Batman, a Duty to Fight / To See"
Replaced the Flying Fox alarm
Added BvS Batmobile engine sounds and whines to the bike. Higher-pitched and slightly faster to complement and expand on the sound of the bike
Replaced the blue color and tones on Batman's suit. The cape and cowl are black/dark grey, depending on the light
Removed the interaction between Barry and Bruce and the shots of Falcone in the Humvee
Removed the poor shot of Batman talking, face to the camera
Removed Barry saving the girl, interaction with Alfred as he does janitorial work, the hospital starts to collapse further, the nurses panicking with the babies, and the glass falling
Removed the kids looking on in amazement
Removed shot of Batfleck looking head-on as he goes under the flipping car
Removed the interaction between Alfred and Barry about the hospital about to collapse, Barry shaking water off himself and the nurses
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”. Gives a more heroic feel
Re-edited the whole hospital save. There are no calories or eating. Lots of shots and cries of babies were removed. It speed ramps up to get through some of the poor CGI quicker and ramps back down for important parts. Comedy removed. It’s 50% shorter, but with everything that is still needed for it to still work as a scene
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s second Batman theme from ZSJL "Batman, an Invocation to Heal / To Be Seen"
Trimmed Batman, looking worried, as the Humvee flies off the bridge
Removed Alfred talking about what will happen if Batman fails
Removed Grapple gun failing, Batman struggling to keep hold of Falcone. It starts on the fingertips
Replaced the first half of Wonder Woman’s main theme with a blend of Tom Holkenborg’s ZSJL themes ”And the Lion Did Roar, Part 2” and “Wonder Woman Defending / What a Rough Beast”
Replaced the red and blue color on Wonder Woman’s suit. More subdued like her previous Snyder-related appearances
Redited so Flash arrives as Batman is climbing up
Removed Batman climbing up with Falcone
Added masking and tweaks so Affleck's face looks more natural in the cowl
Removed Wonder Woman saying “looking good, Flash” and Flash being awkward
Removed the whole lasso scene
Added cropping to hide some of the Batsuit
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s Batman guitar riff from “We Do This Together.”
Removed Barry when he arrived at work, all interactions with his boss and coworkers
Redited Iris' into a voiceover saying “Barry Allen” over his lab work, transitioning to the conversation outside
Added 7 piano notes from “Song to the Siren” when Iris asks when she last saw Barry
Redited Barry walking to his apartment with the penitentiary phoning him as a voice over
Removed Barry finding the package with the USB drive
Added footage of scrambled CCTV footage on Barry's full computer screen
Removed Barry talking about the footage
Redited the conversation, implies they don’t have the evidence
Added Benjamin Wallfisch's “Nora” theme over the flashback
Replaced the score with Laurie Théberge’s “At The Speed of Force” Piano version to the run. It pauses as he enters the blue part and starts back up immediately he’s in the chronobowl
Removed the face stretch in the blue scene
Redited Floating head, it’s now a split second, instead of 4
Added 6 piano notes from “Beautiful Lie” when Barry talks about saving their parents
New Context: Bruce’s “not this time, maybe some other time” is because he’s working on the footage for Barry
Removed Barry's room falling apart and getting messy again
Trimmed the beer spill
Added scrambled footage on Barry's computer
Added new context: Bruce and Cyborg are working on the CCTV footage just before Barry has the revelation. The decoding is hexagonal in shape, like the boom tube pattern
Trimmed the poor CGI of the league from the chronobowl
Replaced the score with At The Speed Of Force - Orchestral Hip-Hop Remix by Preter Music
Added voices that pan side to side and front to back in the 5 speakers of Cyborg screaming “Barry!” Steppenwolf saying “This Is The End” and other lines for ZSJL
Removed Barry picking the tomatoes from the lower shelf
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Raising The Sword”
Redited a poor running shot
Removed the older couple with clothes missing
Added Tom Holkenborg’s “I Don’t Even Know My Own Name”
Added Benjamin Wallfisch's “Nora” theme
Removed Barry saying why he needs to leave the table
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s todo
Trimmed when Barry's meet
Trimmed the conversation between the two Barrys in the bedroom to remove the dafter parts
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “A Dark Past”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Unlocking The Past”
Removed Barry saying “everybody poops”
Removed the door gag
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Grewishka’s Revenge”
Removed the tooth pop
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Unlocking The Past”
Trimmed the slightly dafter parts of younger Barry flopping about
Removed Barry, trying to run after losing his powers
Replaced “We Are Young” song with Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Trimmed Younger Barry’s run
Trimmed out all of the “musical” jokes
Trimmed Younger Barry arriving home
Trimmed the dafter parts of the suit-up scene
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Removed the Back to the Future conversion
Added Alan Silvestri’s “It's Been Educational / Clocktower” BTTF motif
Trimmed the woman panicking
Redited the Zod transmission scene using Man of Steel TV footage and sound
Added Man of Steel Footage and Sound and BvS footage leading into Barry's flashback
Redited Barry's flashback, removed the worst shots, color graded and grain added to closer match Man of Steel
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Terraforming”
Removed the scene at Barry’s apartment with his roommates
Redited Kitchen fight, removed the dafter parts, and removed the Chicago song
Replaced score with “Sounds About Right Bruce” using the score that was originally used on the Batfleck bike chase
Trimmed the conversation, removing the dafter parts
Removed the Puma trainer
Removed Barry trailing off, talking to himself, when Bruce stands up
Redited: Changed blue batsuit to grey
Removed Barry saying “You are” “You’re”, “Yeah, I’m Batman” and Barry fainting
Redited: Attempted to make Barry’s pointless CGI face look better in the Batwing with masking and light levels
Reedited the grapple section
Redited Barry, knocking over the shovel
Redited how long it takes security to react
Removed Batman saying, “This might hurt”
Removed some of Barry vomiting
Removed the woman commenting on the guy that Batman throws through the window
Removed Barry saying “big scrotum”
Removed Barry helping Batman hack the security and Batman struggling
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”I Have So Many Questions”
Redited the Russian, finding them in the corridor. He pulls his gun straight away, and Barry takes him out
Removed Batman, measuring the explosive level
Removed Younger Barry saying Smifnoff ice
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Superman Rising, A Book of Hours”
Rescored with Hans Zimmer's score “Superman Rescues Mother - Smallville Duel”
Redited the fight, removed some poor shots
Removed Younger Barry saying, “You should have seen that in slo-mo”
Rescored with Hans Zimmer's score “Who Is This Kal Person”
Removed older Barry panicking
Removed Barry talking about her dressed etc
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Flight”
Rescored with Hans Zimmer's score “Young Clark Freaks”
Trimmed Kara spitting
Rescored with Hans Zimmer's score “Superman Rescues Mother - Smallville Duel”
Removed Barry talking about Babies and Wrestlers
Removed Zod telling the soldier he brought him nothing
Removed Kara saying “No”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Arcade”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Grewishka’s Revenge”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Day Of The Dead”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I See Church”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I Don’t Even Know My Own Name”
Removed Younger Barry, making his suit
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Look To The Stars”
Removed Younger Barry saying “Supergirl” and “Yeah, is it hope?”
Removed Kara saying Krypton was a beautiful place etc.
Removed the conversation about being the Justice League and Bruce saying, “You wanna get nuts”
Replaced score with Danny Elfman’s ”The Finale”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's “We have a plan”
Removed Young Barry talking about filming Kara
Removed Young Barry screaming and the batwong barrel roll
Removed the joystick move
Removed Young Barry turning in the mask
Removed the 3 heroes sliding towards the screen and Kara saying “Zod”
Removed Faora, removing her mask
Removed Barry’s talking about what they’re going to do and the Barbie line
Replaced the Black Zero SFX from Man of Steel
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”Terraforming”
Removed the Batwing, taking out the Kryptonina ships
Removed Young Barry saying he’s gonna Empror that guy
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Remove Barry saying “oh shit”
Removed both Barry’s jumping up and punching the soldiers
Removed Batman saying, “I’m gonna take out that big one”
Removed Batman saying, “I’ve been hit”
Removed some of Batman pressing the switches and the cockpit warning him
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”If You Love These People”
Replaced score with Danny Elfman’s ”Attack of the Batwing”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I See Church”
Removed some of the CGI running in the chronobowl, and Young Barry asking if they’ve gone far enough
Removed both Barry’s reappearing
Removed Batman saying “I’m gonna take out that big one” the 2nd time
Rescored Batamn taking on Nam Ek
Removed Barry saying, “Who, Space Giant?”
Rescored with Hans Zimmer's score “Superman Rescues Mother - Smallville Duel”
Redited Nam Ek on the batwing so it all happens quicker, and Nam Ek doesn’t struggle anywhere near as much
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “Motorball”
Replaced the score with Hans Zimmer's ”This Is My World”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I See Church”
Removed Batman having any effect on Nam Ek He instantly gets launched to the floor
Redited Batman's death, both Barrys arrive to try and save him from Nam Ek, they take Nam Ek down, and then Batman dies
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I See Church”
Removed Young Barry saying “again”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I See Church”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “You Just Lost A Puppet”
Trimmed Young Barry laughing
Trimmed Young Barry saying, “I am The Flash”
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “The Warrior Within”
Redited Dark Flash's voice to sound less human, and when he moves fast, I removed some frames and added whoosh sound effects to make him look faster and more powerful. Lots of small trims to his scenes
Trimmed Barry speaking to Dark Flash until Young Barry returns
Trimmed Barry asking about the scar
Removed the cameos except for two (seriously, black and white??) Just kept Cage and a snippet of Reeve/Slater
Replaced the score with Tom Holkenborg’s “I Don’t Even Know My Own Name”
Added Benjamin Wallfisch's “Nora” theme
Removed Barry, putting the tomato can back
Trimmed the director cameo and Barry arriving at court
Added new context: The footage Bruce and Victor were working on has worked
Trimmed Barry leaving the court
Rescored Iris leaves to the end of “Song to the Siren”
Removed Barry singing the song his mother sang
Removed Clooney and the tooth
Added a brand new league-based ending with Barry being in his original universe
Replaced score with Tom Holkenborg's “The Crew At Warpower”
Removed the daft credit sequence at the hospital
Replaced score with Tom Holkenborg's “Motorball” and “I See Church”
Added “Speed of Fate” subtitle after the credits with a whoosh as they leave the screen
Removed the After Credits scene
