THE FLASH Director Andy Muschietti Breaks Down The Movie's Divisive "Baby Shower" Opening Scene

THE FLASH Director Andy Muschietti Breaks Down The Movie's Divisive "Baby Shower" Opening Scene

The Flash kicks off with Barry Allen attempting to save a hospital wing full of babies, and director Andy Muschietti has broken down the entire sequence (which has proven somewhat divisive due to the VFX).

By JoshWilding - Jun 27, 2023 06:06 AM EST
Filed Under: The Flash

The Flash opens with Barry Allen racing into action in Gotham City at the behest of Batman. With an entire wing of a hospital about to collapse, the Scarlet Speedster - who is running low on energy after not grabbing his breakfast - finds himself in the midst of a literal "baby shower." 

As the adorable babies rain down around him, The Flash grabs a snack and successfully saves them all.

In the video below, the entirety of that sequence is showcased along with commentary from director Andy Muschietti. "In the original script, there was a scene with a volcano," the filmmaker starts. "I thought we needed something a little stronger to start with."

"So I came up with this scene where a bunch of babies are thrown into the void and Flash has to do something about it. What I wanted is to put our superhero to [the] test. I wanted to put his superpowers to the test, and basically [explain] that even if you are the fastest man alive, you can have trouble saving different people at the same time."

It's interesting that the movie originally featured a volcano as one is shown erupting during a news report which explains why Superman isn't able to help his fellow Justice League members. 

Muschietti continued, "What happens is basically, he has to save nine babies that are not only falling, but because he didn't have breakfast, his calories are going down. So everything starts to speed up. That's the other narrative gimmick that we're having, that we're basically seeing the events from [The Flash's] perspective."

"When he's in full energy, everything seems to be frozen in time. But when his calories go down, meaning that he doesn't have fuel enough to be at the top of his capacities, everything starts to get faster."

You can hear the director's comments in full in the video below, but he'd go on to explain that the idea of Barry needing calories was meant to establish a vulnerability which would help audiences buy into the fact the Fastest Man Alive isn't unstoppable and has a legitimate weakness. 

The Flash is now playing in theaters.

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SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 6/27/2023, 6:16 AM
Vigor
Vigor - 6/27/2023, 7:58 AM
@SimplyAz - lol uh. Haven't seen this movie. But I'd love to know the context behind this scene
ninerstreet
ninerstreet - 6/27/2023, 6:19 AM
Oh yeah, this is definitely the asshat to direct the next Batman and to introduce Damian Wayne as Robin. FFS. Keep this clown as far away from TBATB as possible please sir.
emeraldtaurus
emeraldtaurus - 6/27/2023, 7:41 AM
@ninerstreet - Agreed . Andi Mustbejokin' should not direct BM Brave &the Bold. Affleck would be perfect.
SATW42
SATW42 - 6/27/2023, 9:05 AM
@emeraldtaurus - "Andi Mustbejokin'"

GOOD ONE. You spend as much time coming up with that as they did writing this?
emeraldtaurus
emeraldtaurus - 6/27/2023, 10:25 AM
@SATW42 - em...are you the guy that directed this movie...you sure are defensive about. Or...this vould be Ezra Miller again !!
SATW42
SATW42 - 6/27/2023, 10:35 AM
@emeraldtaurus - one look at my posting history, and if the snyder bots didn't block me theyd tell you themselves, I'm no DC apologist. Your dumb nickname was just weak as shit. If you're going to bash a dudes creativty, the least you can do is attempt being creative yourself.
emeraldtaurus
emeraldtaurus - 6/27/2023, 11:00 AM
@SATW42 - okay Andy Mustbejokin' / Ezra Mycareerisover. Not a Snyderbot....but I am a DC-head. You Marvelites would really wanna lighten up !
SATW42
SATW42 - 6/27/2023, 11:35 AM
@emeraldtaurus - so which is it, youre all over the map. Am I a marvelite or am I Andy or am I Ezra?
emeraldtaurus
emeraldtaurus - 6/27/2023, 12:39 PM
@SATW42 - pick one !
SATW42
SATW42 - 6/27/2023, 12:48 PM
@emeraldtaurus - once again letting those creative juices flow
rkshuttleworth
rkshuttleworth - 6/27/2023, 7:10 PM
@ninerstreet - Sir? Are you trying to act like Josh will make your fanboy dreams of being a director come true? Lol.

Your comments make you look like the asshat actually.
CoHost
CoHost - 6/27/2023, 6:21 AM
It was one of the better scenes in the movie, even if it did look like a PlayStation 5 cutscene.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/27/2023, 10:58 AM
@CoHost - PS5 has way better graphics than this crap. PS3 would make more sense.
ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 6/27/2023, 6:23 AM
I really liked this scene and thought it was a great opening and a good way to "introduce" the hero. Very fun and inventive.

The cgi on the babies was terrible though.
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 6/27/2023, 6:29 AM
I thought the babies were a bit cringy, but the opening overall was pretty good. I wish in retrospect the fight was like Batman and Flash fighting the Rogues instead of a nameless dude, but maybe there was a purpose for it.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 6/27/2023, 6:39 AM
@DannRamm113 - Believe it or not that nameless dude was Alberto Falcone, who is just another run of the mill gangster in the Snyderverse.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 6/27/2023, 6:36 AM
I cannot believe that the Flash asked for that young 12 year old groupie to throw him a candy bar, because he was so desperate for energy, only to just leave it on the ground. He's superfast, he could have easily grabbed it before running losing only a nanosecond.

But no "The Great Ezra Miller" as Muschietti calls him in this video, was too good for a candy bar that had fallen on the floor. The privileged brat's not THAT hungry. No, he has to break into a vending machine and steal food instead. That's what "The Great Ezra Miller" would do.
newhire13
newhire13 - 6/27/2023, 8:11 AM
@ObserverIO - Y’all complain about the weirdest shit 😂
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 6/27/2023, 10:09 AM
@newhire13 - It's literally what the article is about. This isn't some major gripe I've been sitting on, lol.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 6:39 AM
I absolutely loved the movie. Start to finish, but third act did kind of ramp down a little.
But one thing I have to admit, is the whole Flash Hungry food gag started wearing a little thin to me.
I mean it was good. I get it, supermovie gag and it was executed well.
But I wish they didn't keep revisiting it.
Not anything I would harp on the movie about. But it did take me out of the moment when it popped up again later. Movie makes up for that tho. If you would ask me about Ant-Man 3. The whole movie was basically strung together gags that landed on their face and took me out of the movie.

The Flash had a more classic approach to that kind of gag.

Zerith
Zerith - 6/27/2023, 6:51 AM
@TempleRod - Nobody really cares what you think
BraveNewClunge
BraveNewClunge - 6/27/2023, 7:46 AM
@TempleRod - would have been great if he came up with some kinda of nutritious snack to keep him going during the movie. Overall I liked the scene I just felt it was bogged down by the CGI and that annoying nurse overreacting with the screaming. Like why would she scream like that at the flash after being saved?
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 8:16 AM
@DaScarletClunge - I know I come off on this site as some kind of "hey he's a hardcore defender of DC and Flash". But I think that part just made sense to me.
She wasn't screaming about being worried about the babies. She was just screaming because she was seeing crazy shit right then.
That's what I immediately thought during that scene. Like the nurse was like "What the [frick] is going on right now?" and every single further moment of the sequence just made her scream more.

If people aren't responding to it the same way, Can't really argue with that. Maybe I was just primed to find these 'better ways of interpreting the movie'. I can accept that. But that's genuinely what I got. Is it was meant to be kind of a gag.

Apparently tho, it fell flat for most people.
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 6/27/2023, 6:40 AM
Moving babies at that speed was idiotic especially when later this director makes it a point that young Ezra pukes and gets sick 1st time he was moved through the speed force by older Flash. Based on the director's own rules of the speed force those babies should be mush now. I like the word asshat to describe him when he talks about the movie
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 6/27/2023, 6:44 AM
@WarMonkey -
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