It’s the summer of 2024. None of the big releases coming up in the next few months are about DC Comics superheroes like Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman, as has been the case over the years and decades. Instead, social media is flooded with photos coming from somewhere close to the set of the film. Superman: LegacyDC’s big reboot this summer, helmed by new DC impresario James Gunn. So it doesn’t seem quite right that just a year ago, The flash The film was flying by in its brief theatrical run. Now, the movie sits in the Top 10 on Netflix, while some of its so-called “DCEU” (DC Extended Universe) siblings are big draws on Tubi. DC’s recent run of films has never been more accessible. But can this do much to change its reputation after the fact?
The flash was not the last DCEU film. Rather, it was released during the biggest and worst year in the franchise’s decade-long history: a series that had previously released one or two films per year, often blockbusters, amassed four post-pandemic titles and, thanks to corporate uncertainty, ended up pumping them out in a fire sale-like fashion. Over the course of twelve months, this quartet, taken together, grossed only slightly more in the U.S. than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But although it was technically followed by the relatively discreet Blue beetle and the moderate global success of an afterthought Aquaman continuation, The flash It’s the DCEU movie that seems most likely to be an ending, even if accidentally.
On paper, The flash It seems like it should have been a hit, regardless of its place in the DC cycle. It combines the fast-paced multiverse antics that audiences enjoyed in multiple Spiderman Movies with MCU-style cameos and No way home-style revivals – including a major supporting role for Michael Keaton, reviving his version of Bruce Wayne and Batman when Flash (Ezra Miller) engages in a history-altering time-travel trip that branches off into an alternate universe. Speaking of which, that time-travel angle is indebted to Return to the future – the long-gestating film was reportedly pitched to Robert Zemeckis at one point – and aims for a similar mix of quick entertainment and emotional sustenance. The stereotypical grimness of previous DC films like Batman vs Superman is replaced by bright, colorful antics that mix comedy, action and pathos. On a purely logistical level, The flashThe introduction of multiversal storytelling also meant it offered an infinitely adjustable reboot to the DCEU. Want to keep popular figures like Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in the fold, while recasting or re-casting other roles as needed? No problem; The flash It could basically serve as DC’s version of X-Men: Days of Future Pastwhich pulled off a similar trick and became one of the most popular installments in that series in the process.
However, a lot of dire circumstances added up to what seemed like the film’s major advantages. Star Ezra Miller engaged in a years-long struggle with his mental health that seemed to include some abusive and criminal behavior, which made him a huge liability in the press (and led many online pundits who have no idea how movies work to suggest that it would make more sense to just trash a finished movie to take a righteous stance against Miller). As a result, there wasn’t a lot of stellar promotion for the film and a lot of uncomfortable feelings about the character’s future. Ultimately, Miller wasn’t able to defeat Flash as easily as corporate shenanigans; the 2022 Warner Bros/Discovery merger led to new Warner chairman David Zaslav making some boldly upsetting DC decisions, including canceling a nearly-finished film. Bat girl film that, like The flashKeaton once again donned the cape and cowl of Batman. While the general public was likely unaware of this fiasco, it can’t have been easy to generate excitement for Keaton’s return among hardcore fans after deciding that a recent performance in that same role wasn’t worth publicizing and that the film’s universe might not be worth saving.
The flashWhile it was late to screens considering the project had been in development for a decade, it was also at the forefront of the brave new field of audiences who were getting tired of this superhero crap. Not for everything, mind you — there will probably be at least one blockbuster superhero movie annually for the next three or four years — but the epic, cameo-heavy, continuity-heavy crossover that somehow feels like both a new introduction and an epic farewell retreated into its natural habitat as a niche experience just in time for The flash crash and burn.
A year later, those crossed purposes are exactly what makes the film strangely fascinating. The flash It was simultaneously the victim of overkill and underkill. It’s often cartoonish in its look and distracting in its desire to please, and it’s nowhere near the top-tier superhero movie described by noted comic book fan and film expert David Zaslav (as well as admittedly more credible company collaborator James Gunn) before its release. It’s also interesting and strange in ways that make it quite fun, especially when juxtaposed against other DC films, which rarely delivered the frictionless experiences of the MCU’s less inspired entries.
Despite multiple big-name cameos, the film really centers on Barry Allen (Miller), to the point of making the actor both first and second protagonist, as Barry encounters a version of himself from an alternate past who hasn’t gone through the trauma necessary to turn him into a superhero and is therefore not much help when General Zod (Michael Shannon, reprising his role) is forced to abandon the role. Iron Man (paper) threatens a world now free of superheroes. The scenes with one Barry training the other in the art of superheroics have a pleasant madness; they even nicely echo the part of the crazy League of Justice movie (the non-Snyder version, which The flash It serves, amusingly, as a relatively straightforward sequel/companion) as Ben Affleck’s Batman (who also appears here) guides Barry through a rescue operation larger than he’s ever faced before. Keaton’s Batman, meanwhile, goes from feeling like a perpetual outcast from society to feeling like a deeply odd fit for a movie that doesn’t have any gothic nuance or freakshow poetry whatsoever; yet there is a comic-book-turned-cinema spectacle to be had in watching Keaton’s Batman, Sashe Calle’s Batman. Iron Man-and Supergirl, and multiple Miller Flashes come together in an unworkable climax, the actual text of which is just how unworkable it is! The film pits Barry’s desire to “fix” the past against the ever-shifting variables that keep bending fate in the opposite direction, incorporating macabre CGI visions of heroes from past and alternate DC movies in the process. In a way, the film indulges in the dizzying, mercenary task of trying to make a crowd-pleasing supermovie that somehow fits into an increasingly unwieldy world of similar things.
Will director Andy Muschietti bring this disaster to a moving, definitive conclusion? Not exactly, given the film’s own uncertainty about whether it’s retooling the DCEU, softly rebooting it, or sending it into the sunset. The flash It vacillates and equivocates on its conclusions, mulls over philosophical lessons, emotional catharsis, ironic punishment, or even crazier antics, and finally ends with a surprise cameo followed by a moment of unfortunate, slapstick flashback that is, frankly, far more unpleasant than the much-derided mid-credits joke of Aquaman 2. This is a superhero movie made in what feels like a long-shot, slow-motion panic, tragically late to the party when it already had everything in place. It is also, removed from the fanboy hype and anti-promotion of box-office nerds, a messy superhero adventure unlike any other, even the ones it tries to imitate. That’s the only aspect of the movie that makes it fit with the presence of Keaton’s oddball Batman: It’s a bit of a freak show. Echoing the famous line that Keaton boldly but pointlessly repeats, it becomes a bonkers mess.
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer based in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to The AV Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts on www.sportsalcohol.comalso.
