The DCU has come a long way in just 2 years, and there’s a lot to be excited about regarding the universe’s future. Now that Superman has become a success and more characters are on the way, it’s worth looking back at how rough things were during the previous DCU’s final years. We’re not the only ones taking a look back, either, as DC’s Batman director has come to the defense of the DCEU’s final flop, calling out “bandwagon critics” specifically.
The final film of the previous DCU era was the much-debated and discussed project The Flash, which was directed by Andy Muschietti. Muschietti is also attached to the new DCU’s Batman as part of Brave and the Bold, as well as the anticipated IT prequel Welcome To Derry. While Muschietti is excited for all of his current and future projects, in an interview with Bingeworthy, he revealed that he is still quite proud of what they accomplished with The Flash, and says a lot of people, including plenty of the film’s critics, didn’t see the movie.
When asked how he dealt with the response to the film and if it shook his confidence, Muschietti said, “No, we just moved on and understood that sometimes there’s a headwind and a project that you dedicated a lot of work to. And we’re very proud of it. I think it’s a good movie.”
“A lot of people did not see it. But you know how things are these days — people don’t see things, but they like to talk s*** about it, and they like to jump on bandwagons. They don’t really know. People are angry for reasons that are unrelated to these things,” Muschietti said.
The Flash Director Still Loves The Movie, Despite The Challenges The Film Faced
Another aspect of the backlash to the film had to do with its star, Ezra Miller, who was in the midst of several controversies during the film’s rollout, and as a result, the film had a constant challenge to deal with during the time it was supposed to be promoting the film the most. “Of course, we had a publicity crisis with Ezra that is undeniable. And I’m not questioning that. But yeah, we love the movie. And actually, we really recommend it,” Muschietti said.
“This may seem immaterial now, but we also had so much support from the studio, really, at a point where they could have been like, you know, backing out because of all the issues we were having with publicity. And they went all in, and we all went all in,” Muschietti said. “And again, we love the movie. We, you know, we gave it our blood, sweat, and tears all the way to the end. And I watched it, like a week ago, and loved it again.”
The Flash would go on to bring in $271 million at the box office against a budget of $200 million, which is obviously less of an impact than the studio had hoped for. The film pulled out all the stops, as it not only introduced the DCU Supergirl to the story but also brought back Michael Keaton’s Batman, which was easily one of the film’s biggest highlights.
The film even highlighted alternate universes and real-world DC behind-the-scenes stories, like when it created Nicholas Cage’s Superman that never had a chance to hit the screen, and even brought the giant spider so often referred to in Hollywood stories into the mix. The film even had a cameo from George Clooney, but none of that was enough to overcome the various hurdles it faced, and it would close out an uneven era of DCU projects.
Muschietti’s next project, IT: Welcome to Derry, hits HBO on October 26th.
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