Highlights
- The Flash received mixed reactions from fans and even Tim Burton expressed his displeasure due to the unregulated use of AI and not securing his approval for bringing back his DC characters.
- Despite attempts to hype the movie, The Flash ended up being one of the biggest box office bombs for DC, with allegations against Ezra Miller further affecting its reception.
- The studio's decision-making process for The Flash reflects their attempt to cater to the general audience and set up a DCU reboot, but it ultimately leaves the DCEU in limbo and receives criticism from both fans and creators.
Despite The Flash being heralded by DC Studios CEO James Gunn, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, and some critics as the best superhero movie, some DC fans disagree. Tim Burton seems to share their sentiments for reasons that may be personal and reflective of poor leadership at WB.
WB did its best to hype The Flash, but that didn’t help it from becoming one of the biggest box office bombs for DC. Some fans love it, some hate it, and others didn’t see The Flash because of allegations against and actions of Ezra Miller. Tim Burton seems to be a part of the group that takes issue with the film, speaking to the unregulated use of AI and the studio not securing his approval before bringing back his DC characters.
During an interview with BFI in anticipation of Beetlejuice 2, Keaton's Batman was brought up when Burton was asked if he regrets working on Superman Lives starring Nicolas Cage, which never got off the ground, possibly because of Mars Attacks box office failure in 1996 and WB siding with McDonald's over not being able to sell toys because of Batman Returns. Burton said, “When you work that long on a project, and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, a little bit.” Burton also said, “It goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
While director Andy Muschietti pays homage to Burton's desire to have Superman fight a giant spider in The Flash, with Cage in the same Superman suit seen from the early test photos of the '90s, there is no denying that the actor looks AI-generated despite statements made from The Flash production declaring that Cage was there in person to shoot the cameo scene. As for Batman, Burton thinks that The Flash misrepresents his adaptation of the character, but to be fair, not only is Burton on record stating that he never read the comics, but Keaton was excited to return as Batman. Furthermore, Keaton's Batman is not meant to be the same Batman from before anyway, as Flash meddled with the timeline within the context of the film to reflect an altered version of that Batman. This is like Scott Snyder's Batman in the New 52 comics, a variation of Grant Morrison's Batman. They share a history that includes Final Crisis and Batman Incorporated, but it occurs after Flashpoint.
The Flash and how it came to be highlights the studio's thought process in assuming what would cater to the general audience from how Flashpoint was initially meant to reset the DCEU. Gunn stated The Flash would set up the DCU reboot. However, his solution to this is to leave Miller's Flash stranded in a throwaway universe with a variant of George Clooney's Batman and a black-out drunk version of Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry, with the DCEU left in limbo despite what was supposed to transpire following Zack Snyder's Justice League.
The Flash came at an unprecedented time regarding the SAG and WGA strikes, and it was already in hot water for the moral question of bringing back characters played by departed actors through computer generation, including George Reeves' Superman. Either way, it's only natural for DC fans and the creators to have differing opinions, so just because Burton has a problem with The Flash doesn’t mean fans have to.
The Flash is available on MAX.
Source: BFI