DC Extended Universe blockbuster The Flash flopped when it sprinted into cinemas back in June 2023. Now, director Andy Muschietti has gone public with his theory why.
“The Flash failed, among all the other reasons, because it wasn’t a movie that appealed to all four quadrants. It failed at that,” Muschietti told Radio Tu show La Baulera del Coso. “When you spend $200 million making a movie, [Warner Bros.] wants to bring even your grandmother to the theaters.” The Argentine filmmaker added that the Scarlet Speedster’s limited appeal compared to DC heavyweights like Superman and Batman was likely a factor, too. “I’ve found in private conversations that a lot of people just don’t care about the Flash as a character,” he said. “Particularly the two female quadrants. All of that is just the wind going against the film I’ve learned.”
As explanations go, it sounds reasonable (except maybe that “female” bit). But ultimately, Muschietti is wrong, and The Flash stumbled at the box office for other, far more significant reasons.
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We’ll get into the real problems that knee-capped The Flash in a moment. First, I want to interrogate Muschietti’s argument, because (as I alluded to above) as logical as it sounds, it doesn’t really stack up.
Let’s start with the “four-quadrant” of it all. Here, Muschietti makes a somewhat valid point. The Flash is a movie built around time travel and the multiverse; both complicated plot mechanics that can confuse casual audiences (not least of all the grandmothers Muschietti refers to). So, it’s conceivable that this aspect of The Flash turned off prospective viewers. However, it’s not likely. After all, in the last five years alone, movies built on alternate realities and/or featuring multiversal doppelgangers – Everything Everywhere All at Once and multiple Spider-Man movies – have enjoyed tremendous critical and commercial success (including with, presumably, women and grandmas). So, that line of logic is a non-starter.
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Equally, Muschietti’s position that the Flash lacks the requisite interest level to headline a four quadrant money-spinner is pretty shaky. DC Studios’ rival Marvel Studios built its industry redefining Marvel Cinematic Universe largely off the back of superheroes with limited (or even no) mainstream recognition value. Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy – these were not globally beloved icons before the MCU. Heck, for its part, DC had a billion-dollar hit with 2018’s Aquaman solo movie, despite the average viewer’s knowledge of its protagonist being jokes about his telepathic bond with fish. Clearly, it’s not the character; it’s the movie.
Ezra Miller’s Troubles Dented The Flash’s Box Office
So, if The Flash‘s four quadrant failings aren’t to blame for it being a flop, what is? It’s hard to isolate just one element, however, star Ezra Miller’s highly-publicized legal troubles certainly didn’t help. Miller (who uses they/them pronouns) was infamously arrested twice in March 2022 after a string of incidents in Hawaii. They continued to make headlines throughout the year, owing to further accusations of harassment, child grooming, and burglary. The whole situation soon became so disturbing – and Miller such a widely decried figure – that DC parent company Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly considered shelving The Flash altogether (although producer Barbara Muschietti denies this).
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Now, it’s possible that the average moviegoer didn’t care about the turmoil in Miller’s personal life. Heck, a not-inconsiderable chunk of The Flash‘s prospective audience probably didn’t know anything about it. While the pop culture faithful keeps tabs on the behind-the-scenes goings on associated with upcoming releases, plenty of people don’t engage with this stuff beyond the trailers. Still, those who did know about the Miller controversy no doubt had misgivings about showing up for The Flash. Some will have sat out the film on moral grounds, uncomfortable with supporting a production headed up by an alleged predator. Others likely grew tired of the media circus. Either way, this arguably hurt The Flash‘s ticket sales more than the four-quadrant dilemma Muschietti describes.
Bad CGI Generated Bad Buzz Around the Flash
It wasn’t just off-camera drama that earned The Flash flop status, though. There’s plenty wrong with the movie itself, too – and this generated bad word-of-mouth that must have added to The Flash‘s financial woes. Notably, the DCEU outing’s CGI is notoriously bad. From ghoulish digital babies to unconvincing pixel-powered recreations of performers such as Nicolas Cage, many of the effects in The Flash aren’t up to scratch; some even look unfinished. Predictably, early audiences complained, and while Muschietti tried to spin the shoddy VFX as an intentional creative choice, it was another excuse for uncommitted viewers to opt out of The Flash.
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The Flash‘s mixed reviews probably did their fair share of damage, as well. Several critics took Muschietti’s film to task for what they perceived as its storytelling shortcomings, particularly the quality of its third act. Admittedly, as with the negative press around Miller, we can debate the tangible impact of poor write-ups on a movie’s box office performance. Yet it stands to reason that professional pundits giving less-than-glowing appraisals of The Flash added extra momentum to the narrative that it was another DC misfire. And that’s something not even Barry Allen himself could outrun.
The DCEU’s Impending End Hurt the Flash’s Chances
But perhaps the biggest reason why The Flash flopped that Muschietti doesn’t acknowledge is its overlap with the demise of the legacy DC Extended Universe. Roughly six months before The Flash‘s premiere, incoming DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran announced they were relaunching the DCEU as the “DC Universe” (or DCU), jettisoning most of the former’s existing canon. This included holdover projects such as The Flash, which posed an obvious problem: why would fans sink their time and money into a movie that – even if it’s entertaining in its own right – ultimately doesn’t “count” in the grand scheme of things?
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As it turns out, they wouldn’t, a fact reflected in the dire earnings of not just The Flash, but also 2023’s other legacy DCEU releases, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Most folks were now looking ahead to the DCU; the DCEU couldn’t draw a crowd anymore. And this, as much as anything, is why The Flash flopped – no matter what Andy Muschietti says.
The Flash is currently streaming on Max.
Published: Jan 18, 2025 09:00 am