Summary
- Tom Cavanagh praises “The Flash” film for a refreshing take on the character, acknowledging valid criticisms. (
- Cavanagh highlights differences between the film and CW show iterations of The Flash, providing valuable insights.
- The delay in Flash’s appearance in the new DCU makes sense, allowing time for intricate growth and relevance in the franchise.
Despite The Flash acquiring the title of box office bomb with incredible speed and failing to connect with even the most hardcore fans of the old DCEU, one star from a much more well-loved adaptation of the character has some positive words for the film.
The Flash found itself in an awkward position during the final days of the Synder-led DCEU, as it was simultaneously one of the last vestiges of a dying franchise that had lost a lot of goodwill with fans and general audiences while also being touted as a reboot point for the franchise a la Flashpoint, implying that its central character, if no one else, would be going on into the new universe the film’s events created. This was further complicated by the film’s lead, Ezra Miller, who would generate a laundry list of controversies over the course of the film’s production and marketing campaign. With the odds stacked against it and the character’s legendary power set and storyline making a modest budget pretty much impossible, the film would suffer an unremarkable release and a poor run that really tarnished that iteration of the character, so much so that The Flash was still facing setbacks a year removed from the film’s premiere
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Despite its undeniable legacy of failure, The Flash still had some of the best DC movie moments of 2023, a year with precious little to celebrate on the comic-book movie side of things. The film had its merits, and one star of the CW Arrowverse’s much more successful take on The Flash certainly sees that. The Reverse Flash himself, Tom Cavanagh, spoke on the project at Fan Expo Portland, in a clip that can be seen via MrHistorican on YouTube. “I saw it!” Cavanagh confirmed when asked about the controversial theatrical adaptation. “A) I did see it, B) I liked it! Here’s what I think…I know they had all sorts of things, off-camera issues, and stuff going on. They do a remarkable job – the first half of that movie, in my opinion, and as somebody who’s protective a little bit of Grant Gustin as The Flash and [the Arrowverse version] as The Flash, and I thought they were so very winning… They played him like they took the IQ level down, and I thought that was good. No, but they did it purposely, and I think that’s going to make The Flash more innocent and different. Good call!” Cavanagh went on to explain his reasoning concerning the project and why he supported the creative choices it made.
Because you don’t want to repeat what a guy did for a decade on television. When Keaton shows up – spoiler alert! – you’re like, “Holy c–p!” It’s so funny if you look at The Flash DVD cover, what’s on it? Batman, which tells you a little bit of something. Then the end of it, it’s a massive digital thing. That’s not always easy to accomplish, but if you watch the first half of that movie, and you watch its genesis story, it was a little slightly different than ours and I thought it was extremely well done. I remember talking to Geoff Johns about this, he’s DC, and Marvel’s kicking ass, I’m like “What do you think about their success?” and he’s like, “What’s good for comic books is good for all of us.” And I sort of feel that way.
Cavanagh absolutely has more than one good point concerning the film, and he’s one of a few people who could speak so clearly about how the film managed to differentiate itself from the show, for better or worse. The star doesn’t brush off the myriad valid criticisms of the film, but he does get to the heart of the thing and offers a very good vantage point on how the actors themselves should look at different iterations of a character. These comments do give some hope that the new DCU’s Flash will be able to take on the lessons from both the film and CW show when that time comes. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait quite a bit before Gunn gets started on the Flash in his new DCU, as the DC Studios boss has signaled he’s more focused on introducing fresh heroes alongside his painstaking reintroduction of a select few major players in this new DC Universe. As things stand, Barry Allen (or maybe even Wally West, as that loaded scene from Creature Commandos suggests) might have to wait until Gunn’s new world needs the Justice League to save it from some massive threat that no one hero can handle on their own.
In truth, DC Studios holding off on The Flash makes sense in a lot of ways, and fans will have to sit tight and enjoy the debuts of other heroes in the meantime and take consolation in the fact that a character like The Flash will be even more relevant the bigger and more intricately crafted the DCU grows in the time before his eventual addition to the roster. When the time comes for the Scarlet Speedster to heed the call of Justice or save the multiverse, it’ll be far removed from the failures of the past, and it will serve the franchise (and the viewing audience) better.
The Flash is available to stream on Max.
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Source: MrHistorican/YouTube