The Flash (2023)

[GHScorpiosRule]

Apologies if this is off topic, but in the television thread (I’m blanking on which one), an article was posted how Muschietti said Miller was the only and Best Flash, to which I said “PUH-LEAZE” because I have just two words for who should have been cast and who can replace them: Grant Gustin.

So again, I will say here, STFU Muschietti. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[Morrigan2575]

I saw a Variety article which was praising Ezra to high heavens and calling the rest of it (by implication Afleck and Keaton) fan service that takes away from the AMAZING Miller.

Honestly I'm assuming they're doing their best to save The Flash and by extension Ezra Miller so it's PR spin...Ezra's the bestest evah so forget about all that crazy/violent stuff it was so last year

[Trini]

47 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Honestly I'm assuming they're doing their best to save The Flash and by extension Ezra Miller so it's PR spin...Ezra's the bestest evah so forget about all that crazy/violent stuff it was so last year

It's very obvious. I'd grudgingly respect them if WB had just said they want to make some money back from what they spent to produce this thing; but no - they want to hype Miller too. I think that's what upsets me the most; they can promote the film without promoting Miller. IF the performance is really that good, people would talk about it anyway, since they are the lead.

[Guest]

On 6/14/2023 at 10:50 AM, Trini said:

It's very obvious. I'd grudgingly respect them if WB had just said they want to make some money back from what they spent to produce this thing; but no - they want to hype Miller too. I think that's what upsets me the most; they can promote the film without promoting Miller. IF the performance is really that good, people would talk about it anyway, since they are the lead.

Same for me. I would have been thrilled if they would have been willing to shelve the entire movie but I never expected that to happen. I wouldn’t have liked it but I can respect how much they have sunk into this movie. What I cannot understand how they didn’t do the bare minimum to address the situation and are acting like Miller is a revelation in the role. Gal didn’t get this much hype when she actually did do something groundbreaking and was considered the best thing in BvS and Justice League.

All they had to do was issue a basic statement acknowledging the seriousness of the the accusations with the generalized “we do not condone” language that is PR 101 and keep Miller out of the press. I would have grudgingly accepted that. But instead Miller is on the red carpet talking about the “journey”. WTF

I really wonder who is making the decisions. Either Gunn is a very different person than I thought or he is being overridden by WB. Either way it doesn’t bode well for the future of DC. 

[Bruinsfan]

If it doesn't open to box office numbers the WB execs hope for, will they threaten that Miller will break into our homes and assault us unless we buy tickets?

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

... What I cannot understand how they didn’t do the bear minimum to address the situation and are acting like Miller is a revelation in the role.

<...>

All they had to do was issue a basic statement acknowledging the seriousness of the the accusations with the generalized “we do not condone” language that is PR 101 and keep Miller out of the press. I would have grudgingly accepted that. But instead Miller is on the red carpet talking about the “journey”. WTF

Same here! I know I've said this before, but this^ was literally the least they should have done, but they didn't. Like, why??

[baldryanr]

8 hours ago, Dani said:

All they had to do was issue a basic statement acknowledging the seriousness of the the accusations with the generalized “we do not condone” language that is PR 101 and keep Miller out of the press. I would have grudgingly accepted that. But instead Miller is on the red carpet talking about the “journey”. WTF

I really wonder who is making the decisions. Either Gunn is a very different person than I thought or he is being overridden by WB. Either way it doesn’t bode well for the future of DC. 

They've probably gambled that people have already made up their mind about whether or not Miller's behavior will determine if they see the movie or not. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, baldryanr said:

They've probably gambled that people have already made up their mind about whether or not Miller's behavior will determine if they see the movie or not. 

I think they were counting on the majority of people not knowing at all or not caring. I feel like they misjudged how much every piece of Flash related news would bring Miller’s behavior to the forefront. If they had addressed it at all it would have tempered the outrage some and kept the story smaller.

10 hours ago, Trini said:

Same here! I know I've said this before, but this^ was literally the least they should have done, but they didn't. Like, why??

The only way the handling of the situation makes any sense to me is if the plan is for Miller to continue to play Barry. If that is the case it will be interesting to see what happens because I have seen some prominent names in the fanbase support this movie with the clear expectation that Miller would be out. Arguing really strongly that supporting The Flash isn’t the same as supporting Miller. 

I really hope that’s not the plan but, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me. I am really interested to see how general audiences react. DC has been hyping it up so much that I expected the critic reviews to be closer to what No Way Home got but right now it’s at 68%. 

[Bruinsfan]

Honestly, I think Wonder Woman is the only DC movie in the last 15 years that could have delivered on that.

[Sandman]

It’s curious to me that Affleck was so widely criticized as a poor choice for Batman, while I found Miller pretty much unwatchable as the Flash. (There are a number of structural and acting problems with Justice League  —Batman isn’t really among them.) Bruce carries the scenes in which he and Barry interact, in my opinion. Miller is not at all convincing as the Flash, and is, to me, neither charismatic enough nor strong enough as an actor for the studio to put all its eggs into that particular weird basket. (But what do I know? I liked Henry Cavill just fine as Superman…)

Tl;dr: I’ll skip it. This movie is not going to restore my faith or interest in the DC movie universe. What I’ve seen has, however, solidified my conviction that shooting itself in the foot is what this studio does best. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Sandman

[dmeets]

Careful, if we don't all get on board the Ezra train I'm sure Gunn will tweet something condescending to us next week while being coy and dismissive to anyone who dares question why everyone else involved in Justice League has allegedly already been let go from their roles (something along the lines of "oh and you know that for a fact?").

[AngieBee1]

I really enjoyed it. I thought Ezra was great fun, Sasha Calle was great but used all too sparingly. Keaton was never my favourite Batman and I didn't like the Burton films but really nice to see his Batman honoured in this way. Loved the cameos or "cameos".

[dmeets]

Maybe I just couldn't get past the Ezra of it all, but I was mostly underwhelmed. I thought the CGI in this was shockingly bad in the opening action scene as well as the cameos. (And I must be the only person on the planet who didn't give a shit about the Superman movie that never was, because that cameo got the biggest applause of the whole movie while all I could think was "why does he look so much faker than de-aged Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy over a decade ago?").

Barry's going to time travel again right? That last twist can't possibly stick. That or James Gunn will just decree that all future movies will be taking place on a different Earth.

It was fine and the acting was all good but this was nowhere near the best comic movie ever and I've lost respect for Stephen King and everyone else that WB paid off to overhype this. Especially the ones who applauded the action scenes here while scoffing at Quantumania. Seriously, that baby rescue scene was so poorly done that it makes me more pissed off than ever that Batgirl was deemed unsalvageable. Did they blow their whole budget on lightning effects and paying Tom Cruise to promote, or did they just rush this through post-production, or what? Those babies looked barely more realistic than Ally Mcbeal.

[Spartan Girl]

Is it true that they 

Spoiler

deepfaked Christopher Reeve? And Adam West and George Reeves? If so…yeah I’m not cool with that.

They could have at least had Affleck do George Reeves since he DID play him in that Hollywoodland movie, that might have been a smarter in-joke. 

 

[baldryanr]

5 hours ago, dmeets said:

Seriously, that baby rescue scene was so poorly done that it makes me more pissed off than ever that Batgirl was deemed unsalvageable. Did they blow their whole budget on lightning effects and paying Tom Cruise to promote, or did they just rush this through post-production, or what? Those babies looked barely more realistic than Ally Mcbeal.

That was a deliberate choice.  Was it the right choice?  As with everything else, that depends on the viewer.  Minor spoilers in the article.

[tv echo]

Warning: major spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the movie...

Every DC Character Who Appears In The Flash Movie
By Aeron Mer Eclarinal  June 15, 2023
https://thedirect.com/article/the-flash-movie-dc-characters-list

The Flash Post-Credits Scene Isn't Worth Your Time (Spoiler Description)
By Sam Hargrave  June 15, 2023
https://thedirect.com/article/the-flash-post-credits-scene-spoiler-description
 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, baldryanr said:

That was a deliberate choice.

I saw that he said that and I’m not buying it.  

[Morrigan2575]

Flash had a worse first day than Black Adam.

I'm still left wondering if this is super hero fatigue, fans not caring because the whole DCEU is being dumped or people really didn't forget/forgive Ezra Miller?

[Spartan Girl]

36 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Flash had a worse first day than Black Adam.

I'm still left wondering if this is super hero fatigue, fans not caring because the whole DCEU is being dumped or people really didn't forget/forgive Ezra Miller?

My money is on the DCEU and Ezra Miller. And people have not taken too kindly to the fact they deepfaked George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and Adam West.

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm still left wondering if this is super hero fatigue, fans not caring because the whole DCEU is being dumped or people really didn't forget/forgive Ezra Miller?

I think it’s a combination of all those factors plus a lot of others that all boil down to the movie just not being good enough to overcome an oversaturated box office during a tough economy. I don’t think that superhero fatigue is actually a thing as much as there is unrealistic expectations of superhero movies clashing with mediocre movie fatigue. Guardian 3 and Spiderverse 2 are really good movies and they are doing well. 

This summers box office reminds me of the joke about the weather. If you don’t like this movie just wait a minute. I am thinking about going to watch something tomorrow and there are three movies I really want to see that have really good word of mouth and I really want to rewatch Guardian 3. Plus there are three or four movies opening in the next month I really want to see. All while I am trying to spend less money and tickets at my local theater are more expensive than ever. 

Between Miller, the reviews and DC’s track record, they are making it really easy for me to skip The Flash. 

[Starfish35]

From Deadline’s analysis: 

Quote

But there’s something else going on here with The Flash, billed by co-DC Boss James Gunn back in January as “probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” and that’s that moviegoers disagree, giving it a B CinemaScore and 77% on Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak exits with a 59% recommend. That buzz, coupled with the fact that The Flash is very male-heavy, and not pulling in as many women as Aquaman and Wonder Woman is slowing it down.

 

[Morrigan2575]

29 minutes ago, Dani said:

think it’s a combination of all those factors plus a lot of others that all boil down to the movie just not being good enough to overcome an oversaturated box office during a tough economy.

True, I don't know why I always try to find THE reason when in reality it's usually multiple factors in play

[Twilight Man]

On 6/16/2023 at 1:56 AM, dmeets said:

Barry's going to time travel again right? That last twist can't possibly stick. That or James Gunn will just decree that all future movies will be taking place on a different Earth.

If you thought that "that last twist" was BONKERS, you ain't heard nothing yet

(or maybe it is more bonkers than these.....)

THREE DIFFERENT ENDINGS PLANNED!!!!!!

Spoilers!!!!!!

Actual Ending #1:   

Spoiler

Clooney as Wayne meets Barry at the courthouse.

Alternate Ending #2:     

Spoiler

Keaton and Supergirl meet Barry at the courthouse.

Alternate Ending #3:       

Spoiler

Cavill and Gadot meet Barry, and then Keaton and Supergirl walk in as well.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

It’s petty of me, and I wasn’t impressed with Miller in The Justice League, but reading all these posts about how awful this movie is being received makes me happy. Yes, I SAID IT. And this:

 

[Spartan Girl]

18 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It’s petty of me, and I wasn’t impressed with Miller in The Justice League, but reading all these posts about how awful this movie is being received makes me happy. Yes, I SAID IT. And this:

 

Save me a seat at the petty table next to you. The Batgirl movie, Christopher, Adam, and George*** all send their regards, Warner Brothers! Hahahahaha!

I don’t begrudge anyone that did genuinely like the movie, but wow, all that overblown hype for nothing…

In case I haven’t made it clear, I am PISSED hearing about those deepfakes. I might have had more respect for them if they had something like Ben Affleck playing the George Reeves Superman because that would have at least been clever (since he played him in Hollywoodland).

[Morrigan2575]

Wait? What's this about deep fakes? The did a Deep Fake of Christopher Reeve?

Edited June 18, 2023 by Morrigan2575

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Wait? What's this about deep fakes? The did a Deep Fake of Christopher Reeves?

Yes Badly

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

In case I haven’t made it clear, I am PISSED hearing about those deepfakes. I might have had more respect for them if they had something like Ben Affleck playing the George Reeves Superman because that would have at least been clever (since he played him in Hollywoodland).

It would have been so much more poignant if they had just used snippets of the original actors or find other more poignant ways to acknowledge them. The DC tv shows did a much better job with the cameos. Burt Ward’s cameo was so delightful. Brandon Routh’s Superman was supposed to be a continuation of Christopher Reeve’s character so they could have just used him. Or cast another look alike. Stand him next to Helen Slater and everyone will know what it means. 

After all those cameos, still no Grant Gustin. I’m guessing they cut his cameo because fans wanted him to replace Miller. 

[Morrigan2575]

Wow. That just seems so wrong. I'm personally annoyed over Reeves but, it seems even more awful given George Reeves suicide. I don't even want to know what they did with Adam West

Edited June 18, 2023 by Morrigan2575

[Starfish35]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It’s petty of me, and I wasn’t impressed with Miller in The Justice League, but reading all these posts about how awful this movie is being received makes me happy. Yes, I SAID IT. 

Same here.  I was feeling petty hoping it would bomb; glad I’m not the only one.  

[Trini]

Nah, I needed this to bomb; after Batgirl, Ezra and WB's shenanigans.

 

2 hours ago, Dani said:

After all those cameos, still no Grant Gustin.

On one hand, it seems disrespectful to not include Gustin or even John Wesley Shipp; on the other, maybe they dodged a bullet?

 

[dmeets]

7 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

If you thought that "that last twist" was BONKERS, you ain't heard nothing yet

(or maybe it is more bonkers than these.....)

THREE DIFFERENT ENDINGS PLANNED!!!!!!

Spoilers!!!!!!

Actual Ending #1:   

  Hide contents

Clooney as Wayne meets Barry at the courthouse.

Alternate Ending #2:     

  Hide contents

Keaton and Supergirl meet Barry at the courthouse.

Alternate Ending #3:       

  Hide contents

Cavill and Gadot meet Barry, and then Keaton and Supergirl walk in as well.

 

That Gunn went with the worst ending of the three tells me he isn’t the DC savior the press is making him out to be. I’m half surprised it wasn’t Weasel who stepped out of the limo.

I’ll also be really annoyed if the last we ever see of Gal’s Wonder Woman is her standing awkwardly while Barry blurts out that he’s never gotten laid.

[Twilight Man]

On 6/16/2023 at 1:56 AM, dmeets said:

Seriously, that baby rescue scene was so poorly done that it makes me more pissed off than ever that Batgirl was deemed unsalvageable.......................Those babies looked barely more realistic than Ally Mcbeal.

 

On 6/16/2023 at 7:45 AM, baldryanr said:

That was a deliberate choice. 

 

On 6/16/2023 at 10:05 AM, Dani said:

I saw that he said that and I’m not buying it.  

Sorry.   You don't get to say  "I MEANT TO DO THAT!!!!"   like you-know-who.

[Morrigan2575]

Opening Weekend Box Office 55.1M Domestic, 131M Worldwide with a B Cinemascore this is going to lose a lot of money.

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by Morrigan2575

[magicdog]

On 6/16/2023 at 4:45 AM, baldryanr said:

That was a deliberate choice. 

My butt is was deliberate!  They screwed up and can't admit what they did so they act like a housecat that slides into the wall and walks away with the, "I meant to do that!" look.  These people do NOT know how to save face credibly.

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Opening Weekend Box Office 55.1M Domestic, 131M Worldwide with a B Cinemascore this is going to lose a lot of money.

 

[AimingforYoko]

This pretty much puts a capper on the first iteration of the DCEU. I know we've got the Aquaman sequel coming, but that looks like an epitaph now.

Edited June 18, 2023 by AimingforYoko

[millennium]

Awww, from Speed Force to Speed Farce.   The Flash tanks at home and abroad.

‘The Flash’ Stumbles at International Box Office With $75 Million

I'm SO sad!

[dmeets]

Funny how now that the audience has spoken, the media has pulled a 180 and suddenly the plot, acting and PR disasters are being scrutinized. So much for this being the movie that saves the genre.

Tom Cruise and Stephen King couldn’t convince the general public, maybe Gunn, Safran, and Zaslav should have tried recruiting Pedro Pascal, Meryl Streep and Taylor Swift to tweet their praises.

The ones I feel bad for in this mess are Kiersey Clemons — who had nothing to do in this movie and is certainly getting the boot along with Ezra — and the cast of Blue Beetle which the studio seems to be leaving to fend for itself while Gunn tweets how excited he is about the new Superman candidates.

[Shannon L.]

We saw it last night.  I've never been a big fan of the DCEU movies and have always felt like the Marvel universe was superior, except for a couple of movies that I didn't like, and I did love Wonder Woman. 

Like most of their movies, I was entertained, but felt like it was a mess overall. Many of the DC movies just seem off for some reason that I can't quite pinpoint (except Shazaam:  I felt like it shifted from PG-13 to a movie for young kids way too often-like they couldn't figure out exactly what kind of movie they wanted it to be).

I was amused by the all of the cameos and the cgi characters of actors who have died didn't bother me too much only because it was just a brief moment of them standing there--they weren't plugged into any action scenes like AI is capable of doing these days.  I agree that most of the special effects were terrible.

I was pleased that Michael Keaton's role was bigger than I thought it was going to be.  I loved the actress who played Kara.  *sigh* I don't know what to say about Ezra Miller.  *I liked older, more serious, and socially awkward Barry.  Younger Barry, not so much.  Ezra needs help and I hope they get it. And no, I don't think that excuses their crimes.  I don't think they should be hired again until they can prove that they've gotten that help and shown that they've changed for the better because of it.

I don't know if Grant Gustin could play the part like Ezra did.  He's good, but his Flash, from what I can remember, was always more calm confident than the one in the movies. Maybe he could pull off that awkwardness, but I can't picture it.

*The one special effect that I think they pulled off fairly well (but not perfectly) was the dual parts.

[tennisgurl]

Its pretty funny to watch the media conversation change so quickly around this movie now that we have something to judge beyond DC's company line about how this is the Best Superhero Movie Ever and enlisting a bunch of celebrities to hype the movie up. Now that the audience and critics have given it a resounding "its alright I guess" instead of rapturous praise, the movie, marketing, handling of the Miller mess, and the way the whole DCEU is going is under massive scrutiny. I admit that I am getting quite a good bit of schadenfreude at the movie underperforming after how badly this has been handled and how the powers that be have tried to downplay Ezra Miller's reign of petty terror. It seems like they have some real mental health issues and I hope that they get help instead of getting everything waved away by the studio, but the studio just doubling down on Miller was a terrible play. 

As for the movie itself, its really not bad, I would say its even better than I expected it to be. Its certainly messy in the way a lot of these "lets set up for the next phase of our franchise" movies tend to be, but it mostly stuck to a cohesive story and I liked how they used the younger Barry, who was very much like the hyper version of him from the Whedon cut of Justice League to contrast the more mature Barry from the Snyder Justice League. Flashpoint as a story is massively overused in the media, but I think they did a pretty good job at adapting it here, with enough alternate universe changes to be interesting. While I don't at all buy that Ezra Miller is so amazing that he could never be replaced, he did do good work here, especially his interaction between the two Barry's, and the rest of the cast was solid too. Michael Keaton was never a Batman I was really attached to so I didn't get that full nostalgia boner that the movie wanted, but I love him as a performer and he was really good here. I also thought that Sasha Calle was a good Supergirl, a different take than what we're used to but I'm sad that because of the reboot we wont see more of her. She didn't even get to do very much in this one movie she's going to be in, at least Keaton got a good amount of screen time and cool moments before being dropped from existence. This movie has good ideas, good performances, some good action, but that's really the problem. Its pretty good, but its not great, which it really needed to be if they wanted it to be the savior of the franchise and to justify putting up with Miller. 

The multiverse concept has been used a LOT lately but I do really enjoy it when its well done. This was alright, the multiverse concept was really underused, basically reduced to some cringy cameos, those CGI reproductions of Christopher Reeves and George Reeves were just awful to look at. Not only did they look terrible, but it feels very questionable to recreate the likenesses of people that tragically died for the sake of cheap nostalgia bait. My favorite cameo was definitely Nick Cage's cancelled Superman, complete with him fighting a giant fucking spider! Now that is the kind of nerd porn deep cut that I can get behind! Hopefully Jon Peters is having a great day after seeing that. Biggest laugh in the movie for me, although most people aren't at all going to know why I was chuckling so hard beyond how goofy Nick Cage looked.

I know that it was unlikely, but I really was hoping for a Grant Gustin, the superior Barry, cameo, or at least some acknowledgment of the TV Flash. I thought that I saw a Teddy Sears cameo as the golden age Flash, but apparently that was just a look alike, which is pretty annoying. We know that they have the TV show peoples number as Ezra Miller did a cameo on their own big multiverse special, but I guess they thought that they were too big and cool to acknowledge a TV show. 

With the meh reaction from critics and audiences and the disappointing box office, I know that there will be tons of discourse about "superhero fatigue" but I don't buy that at all. I think that the disappointing box office is more about people not wanting to get too attached to a cinematic universe that is about to be rebooted, people being angry about the Ezra Miller mess, and the movie in general not being anything special. Spiderverse and Guardians 3 are making good money because they're really good movies, people aren't sick of superhero movies, they're sick of bad superhero movies.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I don't know if Grant Gustin could play the part like Ezra did.  He's good, but his Flash, from what I can remember, was always more calm confident than the one in the movies. Maybe he could pull off that awkwardness, but I can't picture it.

He can. Grant's Barry wasn't always calm confident. He had the evolution from trying to figure out what happened to him, what to do, and how to use his powers. Grant Gustin is very capable and would have been able to do the job. But stupid WB execs think Miller was the better choice? Hell, they got Miller to do a five second cameo on the show during the Infinity Crisis cross overs. So Whatever the FUCK EVER.

[Shannon L.]

3 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

He can. Grant's Barry wasn't always calm confident. He had the evolution from trying to figure out what happened to him, what to do, and how to use his powers. Grant Gustin is very capable and would have been able to do the job.

Ok, I believe you.  I stopped watching Flash a couple of seasons before it ended and don't remember the early episodes very well. 

[tv echo]

Here's THR's reporting…

Box Office: Ezra Miller’s ‘The Flash,’ Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Get Iced by Moviegoers
BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK    JUNE 19, 2023
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-flash-box-office-elemental-iced-1235518215/ 

Quote

Starring Ezra Miller in the titular role, Warner Bros. and DC’s The Flash is anything but flashy in the opinion of moviegoers. The film earned an estimated $55.7 million for the three days and projected $64.2 million for the four days, notably behind expectations. Final numbers will be tallied Tuesday.

The hope had been for The Flash to get a three-day start of at least $70 million so as to come in ahead of such disappointing DC titles as Black Adam, which collected $67 million in its first three days.

Overseas, the superhero tentpole also faced challenges. It opened to $72 million from 79 markets, including a dismal $13.8 million in China, for a global opening north of $130 million through Sunday.

The studio’s leadership has been hyping The Flash for months, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav proclaiming it is the greatest superhero movie he’s ever seen. Many critics don’t agree with the assessment; the pic currently has a 67 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. A bigger problem: Audiences gave the movie a mediocre B CinemaScore (as a way of comparison, Elemental received an A).

While superhero fare often skews heavily male, The Flash is even more so than usual, at 70 percent.

Edited June 21, 2023 by tv echo

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

Ok, I believe you.  I stopped watching Flash a couple of seasons before it ended and don't remember the early episodes very well. 

I also stopped watching around the end of season six, but did watch the series finale. While I think that the personality was more of the Wally West, than Barry Allen, Grant Gustin would have made a much better Barry/Flash on the large screen. But execs gotta stupid the stoopid.

Bitter? Who, me?

[Morrigan2575]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I thought that I saw a Teddy Sears cameo as the golden age Flash, but apparently that was just a look alike, w

Was it a look alike or did they use his likeness? I'd be curious on that one

[Starfish35]

Actual final number was $55,043,679, per Boxofficemojo.

[Starfish35]

I’ve seen some comments saying that they never even bothered to address the issue of who killed Barry’s mom - is that true?  That seems like rather a massive oversight. 😒

[tv echo]

‘The Flash’ Box Office Flameout: David Zaslav’s Regime Suffers First Major Miss
BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK    JUNE 20, 2023 
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-flash-flameout-box-office-flameout-david-zaslav-1235518567/ 

Quote

By late April, all indications pointed to The Flash opening to $100 million or more domestically. That’s when Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav took the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, triumphantly telling theater owners it was the best superhero pic he’s ever seen.

The powerful executive could have easily kept a poker face and distanced himself from The Flash considering it was made by the previous regime. Instead, Zaslav bet on it as if it were his own. That included arranging for Tom Cruise — who was still basking in the afterglow of Top Gun: Maverick — to watch the movie, with his positive reaction becoming a talking point on the press tour. Zaslav’s newly installed DC Studios co-chief and top lieutenant James Gunn also trumpeted The Flash, although he tempered his remarks, saying in January it is “probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Whatever the wording, expectations skyrocketed.
*  *  *
Development on The Flash spanned three regimes at Warners and figured prominently into former DC Films boss Walter Hamada’s plans for the universe. Hamada commissioned a sequel script from Aquaman scribe David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, one that would ultimately lead to a crossover event titled Crisis on Infinite Earths. However those plans were scrapped after Gunn and Peter Safran ascended to the top DC posts. And while no The Flash sequel was part of the duo’s immediate grand plans, announced in January, they were open to Miller returning to the role, possibly as a supporting character in other projects (that seems less likely now in the wake of The Flash’s bomb). Also, the team Zaslav assembled did made some changes to The Flash, including a key moment at the of the film that was orchestrated by Gunn and Safran.

The Flash Movie: Teddy Sears Weighs In on Doppelgänger Cameo Confusion (Exclusive)
BY MATT WEBB MITOVICH  JUNE 17, 2023
https://tvline.com/news/the-flash-movie-cameo-teddy-sears-reaction-denial-jay-garrick-1235001717/ 

Quote

“I mean… that looks like my likeness,” Sears told TVLine when presented with a(n ill-gotten) movie theater screen shot, shared by someone on Twitter.

But it is not him.
*  *  *
But well-placed sources on both the TV and theatrical side told TVLine on Thursday night that the alleged Sears sighting is a case of mistaken identity — that said cameo was absolutely not archival footage of the Flash TV series alum, but a generic Golden Age Flash representation played no actor of note.

Wait, So Who Killed The Flash’s Mother?
By William Goodman   June 19, 2023
https://www.gq.com/story/the-flash-barry-allen-mother-nora-allen-killed-plot-hole 

Quote

In The Flash, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is willing to rewrite entire universes to bring his mother back to life and undo her murder—the event that spurred both his day job as a crime lab technician and his extracurricular heroism as The Flash. But for as much time as The Flash devotes to the emotionality of Barry’s relationship with his mother, the film totally glosses over who actually killed her. Barry’s mother is stabbed by an unknown assailant in the family kitchen, while a young Barry is upstairs, and right before his father returns home from an ill-fated trip to the grocery store. Barry’s father spends some twenty-odd years in prison, falsely accused, until the events of the climax allow Barry to definitively strengthen his father’s alibi. But we never find out who killed Nora Allen, or why, even. The event around which the entire plot orbits, the event that catalyzed Barry’s origin story, is left to be one gaping plot hole as big as the multiverse.

The film never once even pauses to cast suspicion on anyone around Barry—like his dickish co-worker Albert Demsond (Rudy Mancuso), who in the comics becomes Doctor Alchemy, a villain who wields the power of the Philosopher’s Stone to control the elements.
*  *  *
If there were to be a sequel to The Flash, Thawne would be a great villain, and one that could’ve at the very least been foreshadowed here. But, considering James Gunn is about to usher in a new universe that likely won’t have any place for Miller’s Flash, a Snyderverse relic, it’s more likely that no one cared about planting seeds or fully fleshing out Barry’s origin in the final product. The future of this version of The Flash is probably done. But don’t rule another run at this particular storyline at some point further down the line. Until then, justice for Nora Allen.

The Flash Director Confirms Reverse-Flash Killed Barry Allen's Mom in the DCU
BY LEE FREITAG  PUBLISHED 3 DAYS AGO
https://www.cbr.com/the-flash-reverse-killed-barry-allen-mom-dcu/ 

Quote

The Flash director Andy Muschietti recently confirmed that the Reverse-Flash killed Barry Allen's mother in the DC Universe.

During an interview with The Playlist's podcast, The Discourse, Muschietti revealed that he would love to introduce the speedster supervillain in a Flash sequel. "Well, Reverse-Flash is the elephant in the room, right?" Muschietti said. "It feels like you can’t make another movie without addressing the one that, in all accounts, is the murderer of Barry’s mom. So, it feels like the big villain." The director added that he would also like to see Ezra Miller's Scarlet Speedster go up against "The Turtle at some point. The slowest man on Earth. Gorilla Grodd, of course. And many more."
*  *  *
DC Studios' The Flash does pull inspiration from Flashpoint, but the superhero film is not a "literal" adaptation of the fan-favorite storyline. "We didn't want to give the audience a literal adaptation of the comic book. I think that's one of the good decisions that we made," Muschietti explained. "If you see the movie, you don't know where this is going. And as much as some people would've liked to see that literal adaptation, I think we did the right thing. I think that they will be gratified by seeing that the story takes another direction." The director added that only adapting certain parts of the comic book allowed them to develop a movie with a "strong emotional story."

Edited June 21, 2023 by tv echo

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 hours ago, Starfish35 said:

Actual final number was $55,043,679, per Boxofficemojo.

I'm never going to stop using as many laughing gifs that I can find! I'm petty that way. If Miller needs help, fine. I'm sick of that narrative for them. They are a criminal, as far as I'm concerned. And since I'm the public, and not a journalist or media, I don't have to say "alleged" so I won't. But I'm not part of the group that thinks all Miller needs is help for their "problems" instead of calling what they did criminal acts.

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

From cbr.com: The Flash director Andy Muschietti recently confirmed that the Reverse-Flash killed Barry Allen's mother in the DC Universe.

Well...DUH! That was the whole premise in the tv show. So anyone not familiar with the comics or the show, wouldn't know. Is he acting like no one wanted a true adaptation of Flashpoint? What the Fuck Ever. As much as I hated that direct dvd Flashpoint, that introduced the New 52, that cartoon was really good. If there is a complaint, it's that (spoiler tagging just in case)

we never saw Barry's father.

 

[tennisgurl]

17 hours ago, Starfish35 said:

I’ve seen some comments saying that they never even bothered to address the issue of who killed Barry’s mom - is that true?  That seems like rather a massive oversight. 😒

Its so weird to me that this was never even brought up, Barry seemed to have zero interest in finding out who actually killed his mom. I get that he was mostly focused on proving his dad was innocent, but wouldn't finding the real killer help with that? It was apparently alright that he went back to change the evidence to get his dad out of jail, he couldn't have stopped by the house to see who killed his mom? Did they seriously give us the answer to the central mystery of the story in an interview? 

The real mystery was whatever the hell was up with those creepy babies. Their horrifying faces made me miss Renesmee from Twilight.