Despite all the negativity surrounding the discussion of the superhero movie genre over the past couple of years, the past couple of months have actually been a wonderful time for fans thanks to both April’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the recent Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Unfortunately, what was shaping up to be a very promising run for the medium of comic book cinema is already over before it could really begin. And it’s all thanks to The Flash.
To be fair to the incoming Ezra Miller vehicle, we’ve yet to find out exactly how general audiences will respond to it, but after everyone from James Gunn to Stephen King to even Tom Cruise tried to convince us it was one for the ages, its decidedly middling Rotten Tomatoes score isn’t filling us with too much hope. Likewise, The Flash‘s janky CGI has long been the butt of the joke on social media.
As such, after being removed for a hot second there, it seems talk of superhero fatigue is now right back on the menu thanks to The Flash restoring all the old complaints about Marvel and DC movies that we’ve heard so much about of late.
Some are convinced that this must be the first movie not just made by A.I. but made for it too, as they don’t understand how its particular brand of all-CGI action could appeal to human beings.
Others, meanwhile, feel more sympathy for The Flash. After all, even a totally solid Marvel Studios outing, for instance, would struggle to compare with Sony’s acclaimed Spider-Verse sequel.
And then there are those who’ve been stung too many times to put faith in anything but the Spider-Verse. As one hot take put it, “Once Beyond the Spider-verse comes out, they need to just end comic book movies for good.”
But, hey, don’t the bad superhero movies still have a purpose? Like one wise fan sagely put it, “Sometimes ya gotta watch the bad movies to appreciate the amazing ones more.”
Did we need to witness the horror of M.O.D.O.K.’s bare bottom in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to appreciate the amazing artistry of Across the Spider-Verse? And do we need to stomach The Flash in order to value Marvel’s Secret Invasion Disney Plus series? That’s a tough question, but those who do feel the need to catch each and every superhero movie going shouldn’t miss The Flash once it sprints into cinemas this Friday, June 16.