Despite early buzz that portrayed The Flash as “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” the film underperformed upon release, grossing just $271.4 million worldwide and earning mixed reviews. While speaking with The Playlist, The Flash director Andy Muschietti commented on the film’s disappointing box office and negative reception.

“A lot of people did not see it,” he said. “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.“

He continued, “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.” Muschietti did acknowledge that the whole Ezra Miller controversy did seem to have impacted the movie. “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.”

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At the time of release, James Gunn and Peter Safran had already taken over DC Studios and were plotting the brand-new DC Universe. Despite the DCEU being pushed out the door, Muschietti said the studio really supported The Flash. “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,” he said. “And they went all in, and we all went all in.“

I never thought The Flash was all that bad. Sure, the CGI was distracting (I refuse to believe it was supposed to look like that), and the third act fell a little flat, but Ezra Miller really gave it their all, and it was a thrill to see Michael Keaton suit up as Batman once again. Speaking of Batman, Muschietti will be sticking around the DC Universe, as he’s still attached to direct The Brave and the Bold movie. The project seems to be progressing very slowly, but Gunn did recently tease that they have a “really, really good story now for what’s happening with Batman.“

What are your thoughts on The Flash two years later?