The trailer for The Flash movie, released during the 2023 Super Bowl, accidentally emphasized the many mistakes Warner Bros. Discovery made worse while reorganizing DC Studios. The trailer provoked a good deal of online buzz following its release. Unfortunately, most of the excitement centered upon those elements that were reportedly cut down considerably in The Flash movie, per the orders of Warner Bros. Discovery's new management.
Describing the release of The Flash movie as troubled would be an understatement. Originally scheduled for release in 2018 after over a decade in development, The Flash movie has faced repeated delays caused by studio-ordered script rewrites, editing revisions, and star Ezra Miller's legal troubles. It was hoped The Flash movie might herald a new age for DC Studios and the new DCU designed by co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Unfortunately, The Flash Super Bowl trailer seems to have inspired more excitement for those elements the WB heads hoped to undersell and reminded people of the studio's mistakes in handling earlier DC Comics' film properties.
The Flash Is The Least Interesting Part Of The Flash Movie
Interestingly, very little of the discussion following the release of The Flash Super Bowl trailer involved the titular speedster. What little discussion there was centered around Ezra Miller involved their ongoing legal issues and the question of why their role had not been recast given that the film is planned to reboot the DCU a la the Flashpoint storyline from The Flash comics. This is largely because the everyman character of Barry Allen is not nearly as interesting as the other characters in The Flash movie's main story.
Barry's blandness as a character also highlights the problem that The Flash movie seems derivative of earlier superhero works. This includes The Flash television series, which adapted the Flashpoint storyline for its Season 3 premiere in 2016. Beyond that, many critics have compared the films' story (which involves alternate timelines) to various Marvel Studios productions, such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The idea that The Flash was not doing anything new subconsciously pushed audiences to focus on those elements of the trailer that separated it from earlier superhero stories. Ironically, this included the one element taken from an earlier DC Comics film.
Keaton's Batman Return Proves Interest In Older Batman
The confirmation that Michael Keaton is returning as Batman was easily the biggest point of discussion following the release of The Flash movie Super Bowl trailer. This ran counter to the instincts of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who famously said that "there’s not going to be four Batmans," before cutting Keaton's planned appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Zaslav also pulled the plug on plans for a Batman Beyond movie that was being developed as a vehicle for Michael Keaton due to his apparent belief that an older Batman could not attract an audience.
Zaslav seems to have been proven wrong by the enthusiastically positive response to Michael Keaton's return as Batman. Unfortunately, that excitement has been dampened by the knowledge that Keaton's future in the new DCU will likely be limited to his role in The Flash movie. Even then, there have been reports that Keaton's role in The Flash movie was drastically reduced, with his version of Batman being removed from the film's finale. This would seem to be a major miscalculation on the part of David Zaslav, given the fact that Keaton's return as Batman has proven to be incredibly well-received, based on the reactions to The Flash movie trailer.
Supergirl Response Proves Interest In Superheroines
The Flash movie's version of Supergirl, played by Sasha Calle, was another focus of conversation following the Super Bowl trailer's release. While some complained that this character "Kara" lacked the traditional blonde hair and skirt-based costume of the classic Supergirl Kara Zor-El, most of the online buzz was optimistic regarding this new take on Supergirl. Kara seems to be based on the Flashpoint Superman, being a prisoner in The Flash movie before being freed by the other heroes. Whatever her origins, the positive response to this Supergirl proves David Zaslav was mistaken about the popularity of superheroines.
Zaslav drew fire for a sexist infographic revealed during an August 2022 earnings call. The image, originally released via Variety, proposed creating a divide between male viewers and female viewers, with HBO Max offering less scripted properties aimed at women. Few thought it a coincidence that this decision coincided with Warner Bros. Discovery ceasing production on multiple DC Comics properties focused on superheroines, including solo films for Black Canary and Zatanna. A proposed Supergirl solo movie based around Sasha Calle's Kara was also called into question, further raising doubts regarding Zaslav's insight into his potential customers, given the largely positive response to Supergirl's appearance in The Flash movie trailer.
The Flash Trailer Response Proves WB Erred In Shelving Batgirl
Zaslav also canceled a highly anticipated Batgirl solo movie, which was in post-production. While Zaslav defended the decision, saying that they would not release any movie "...unless we believe in it," that judgment has been called into question in recent weeks. While the Batgirl movie may have been shot on a smaller scale than the blockbusters Zaslav wants to produce, the advance previews of Batgirl had earned considerable attention, and many were excited to see Michael Keaton's return as an older Batman alongside Oscar nominee Brendan Fraser, who was cast in the role of the villain Firefly.
The response to The Flash movie trailer indicates that Zaslav made the wrong call in choosing to shelve the Batgirl movie for a tax break. Audiences are apparently unconcerned about Michael Keaton's age, caring only that one of the best actors to ever play the role of Batman has returned. The positive reception towards Sasha Calle's Supergirl Kara likewise proves that there is an audience for movies centered on superheroines, suggesting that the Batgirl movie could have been a critical and commercial success had it been released in theaters or on HBO Max.
DC Studios Chapter 1 Plan Will Correct Some Old Mistakes
Thankfully, the proposed schedule for the opening chapter of the new DCU seems to be correcting the course, building a new DC Universe more in line with audience expectations. There will be a Supergirl solo movie based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow miniseries. It remains to be seen, however, if this will feature Sasha Calle's Supergirl. Likewise, a new Batman movie is in the works, which will reportedly feature a Batman who is older than Superman and is old enough to have fathered a teenage Damian Wayne. It appears that DC Studios are using The Flash movie to give the new DCU a fresh start, free of past mistakes.
