Why You Absolutely Need To Stay After The Credits In 'Justice League'

Spoilers ahead for Justice League. The DCEU (DC Extended Universe) is getting a makeover. Not only are they introducing three new superheroes in Justice League — The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg — but they're also dabbling in a fun new genre called comedy. Granted, the movie isn't a laugh fest, but, as proven by the first Justice League post-credits scene, it embraces a bit of the lighter side of being a superhero. Throughout the film, a lot of the comic relief comes from Barry Allen (aka the Flash), the Justice League's most inexperienced and enthusiastic new recruit, so it makes sense that the first post-credits scene in Justice League is a race between the Flash and Superman.

The first Justice League post-credits scene is completely light comedy — no hints about future villains or teases for upcoming heroes. It's just good, old fashioned fun. The scene takes place on an abandoned dirt road, one assumes close to the Kent farm, though the exact whereabouts are unclear. Barry and Superman stand together, and hammer out a wager. If Superman wins, Barry has to take the League out to brunch — a callback to an earlier scene in which young Barry explains his bafflement at people waiting an hour in line just to eat lunch. And if Barry wins — "I get to tell everyone." The scene ends with them taking off towards the Pacific Ocean, because of course superheroes use an actual coast as their finish line.

The scene is mostly fun. After all, who doesn't want to see a race between Superman and The Flash? But it's also a nice wink as to what fans might be able to expect from a theoretical Justice League sequel. Part of the fun of watching a superhero team-up movie is getting to see how all these superheroes, with all their respective superpowers, work together. In their few scenes together, the Flash is stunned to see that Superman can actually move as quickly (or almost as quickly) as he can using his super speed. Superman can perceive his movements, even if nobody else can. This makes them an excellent match up in a fight, but also a potentially great crime fighting duo.

Unfortunately, we don't find out who wins the race in the post-credits scene, but if it's a close call, then that means we might be able to get more super speed fight scenes in the next film that aren't just focused on the Flash, but on both of the heroes. In fact, fans of the comics have seen the two race in battle before. The Flash and Superman have raced multiple times in the comics, both for fun and in battle. There's even a book called Superman vs. The Flash that tracks all the times they have raced on the page from 1967-2002. They first raced in 1967, when Superman and the Flash competed in a race around the world for charity in Superman Vol. 199, according to iFanboy. Since that issue, the speedster and Kryptonian have gone head to head a few times, with races normally ending in ties.

It's worth noting, however, that fans are divided on who they really think is the fastest man on Earth. Some argue that the Flash could outrun Superman because he has the Speed Force on his side. Others point to Superman's ability to travel through space in minutes as the ultimate test of his speed. Other fans, as seen on Reddit, argue that perhaps Barry Allen's Flash couldn't beat Superman, but Wally West (a later iteration of the Flash) could.

The question of who would win in a race — Superman or the Flash — has been around for 50 years. It's about time the question was put to rest, so let's hope that either Justice League 2 opens with Barry inviting everyone to brunch or bragging about how he beat Superman in a race. Fans need to know.