Heading into this weekend, there were many fans who weren't convinced The Flash would live up to the early hype.
Coming out of April's CinemaCon, it had been called one of the best superhero movies ever made by studio executives and critics alike but the tide started turning as we got closer to June 16. Reviews were mostly positive, but still mixed, while box office opening weekend projections continued to steadily decline.
Well, with that now in the rearview, we know The Flash could only limp to a dismal $55 million debut and, based on early international numbers, it looks destined to be a flop globally as well. Simply put, that's unfathomable for a Multiversal "Justice League" movie which includes Batman and Supergirl.
So, where did it all go wrong?
In this feature, we're breaking down what we think led to The Flash becoming a failure and what needs to be done to save the DC Universe as we know it...
7. DC Studios Killed Interest In The DCEU
When James Gunn and Peter Safran wooed journalists in late January with DC Studios' "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" slate reveal, we're sure they had the best of intentions. However, rather than build excitement for 2023's DCEU movies, it immediately lessened interest in them.
With muddled and intentionally vague wording about whether everything from Shazam! Fury of the Gods to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom would be part of the new DCU, all signs pointed to them simply not mattering. After all, it was a day we saw Henry Cavill ousted as Superman, so why would anyone else stick around?
Since then, it's been confirmed Gunn will reunite with at least some of his actors from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, but the likes of Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck have seemingly gone the same way as Cavill. It's no wonder then that The Flash's promise of a Multiversal adventure felt empty.
6. A Lack Of Genuine Surprises
With The Flash, Warner Bros. and DC Studios could have easily ended the movie by definitively creating the new DCU. All they had to do was push the movie beyond Blue Beetle and the Aquaman sequel, giving them time to shoot a new ending which firmly established that the world we once knew had gone.
For whatever reason (the most logical that enough money had already been sunk into The Flash), that didn't happen. As a result, we knew surprises would be few and far between, even taking aside the cameos and tacked-on ending with George Clooney which only served to further confuse casual fans.
The trailers also showed many of Batman and Supergirl's best moments in a desperate bid to take attention away from Ezra Miller. Had Michael Keaton's return only been teased, it may well have generated the same level of excitement and intrigue as Spider-Man: No Way Home did with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire.
5. Early Fan Screenings
Also contributing to the lack of surprises is the fact that early fan screenings which were meant to generate positive buzz saw almost all the movie's biggest moments leaked online. Clips, screenshots, and full-blown plot breakdowns have been all over TikTok, Reddit, and Twitter for weeks at this point.
With that, those curious about the movie, but perhaps not interested enough to buy a ticket, could see everything they wanted without ever stepping into a theater. We're sure the thousands who flocked to free screenings might have also made a difference when The Flash's opening weekend rolled around.
Warner Bros. had also promised those die-hard fans that they were in store for "the greatest superhero movie ever made." A small handful agreed with the assessment, but most didn't share the viewpoint of David Zaslav and Jaden Smith, creating a narrative that the early praise was, simply put, bogus.
4. The Ezra Miller Problem
Ezra Miller has been accused of some pretty disturbing crimes, but Warner Bros. has chosen to essentially ignore them. Assuming the actor's promise of seeking help would be enough, they trotted them out at a premiere and allowed Miller to make a few brief comments to the press as if nothing had ever happened.
The alternative would have been to scrap the movie which, in fairness, was never really an option. However, we're talking about someone who has allegedly assaulted numerous women, groomed a minor, and broken into someone's house. And yet, they've received praise from Andy Muschietti, Gunn, and more.
While there will be plenty of people out there who don't care or are happy to separate art from reality, there's no denying these claims were off-putting. Miller, who has two roles in the movie, has never been an overly popular choice to play Barry Allen and this only further soured fans on their Scarlet Speedster.
3. A Poor Approach To Nostalgia
Hollywood is looking to cash in on nostalgia these days, likely explaining why Warner Bros. assumed Keaton's return as Batman would be a massive draw for The Flash. The Caped Crusader does shift tickets, but the sad truth is that a lot of people under the age of 18 will have never seen Keaton's movies.
Instead, they've grown up on Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, and the latter's glorified cameo here has ruffled plenty of feathers. People who watched Batman and Batman Returns in their teens or early 20s are now middle-aged, and as great as Keaton was, the movies haven't aged well and he's no megastar.
We're not taking away what an immense talent Keaton is or the fact he steals the show in The Flash; however, he isn't Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford. Basing an entire marketing campaign around the Batman from the late 80s/early 90s was a questionable decision on the studio's part from the start.
2. Bad Word Of Mouth
Rotten Tomatoes does make a big difference to a movie's opening weekend, but no matter what you think of the opinions shared here, it's an indisputable fact that poor word of mouth can kill a movie. In The Flash's case, a B CinemaScore - making it the lowest-rated DCEU movie - is not remotely good news.
Whether it's down to unrealistically high expectations or the fact The Flash simply isn't very good, people walked out of theaters unimpressed. That takes recommendations and repeat viewings off the table, while headlines about a bad opening weekend create the impression this isn't a movie that's worth seeing.
It's something of a vicious circle, but one - right or wrong - that damages a movie beyond repair. Some hardcore DC fans had fun with this one, but that's not enough, and even fan-pleasing moments like those Speed Force cameos are coming under fire for being ghoulish and utilising horrible VFX rather than building buzz.
1. Overhyped And Underdelivered
The biggest reason The Flash failed is down to Zaslav and, to a much lesser extent, Gunn. Both promised one of the greatest superhero movies ever made and, even if you loved it, you know that's not true. It's not even the best superhero movie to come out this month, so those claims are utterly ludicrous.
Instead of generating excitement, enlisting everyone from Tom Cruise to Stephen King to praise The Flash just felt false and orchestrated. We're not saying any of these people didn't love the movie, but if Warner Bros. was a fishmonger, they'd be trying to sell us the best salmon that, in reality, is a week-old trout.
The Flash ends by killing its only two likeable characters prior to trotting out dead actors who look like they've been pulled from a PlayStation 3 game. It's really no wonder moviegoers have walked away disappointed or didn't want to buy a ticket after learning they were getting Batman and Robin rather than The Dark Knight.