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The following contains spoilers for The Flash movie, currently in theaters.
Despite hopes that it might become a success, it seems as if Andy Muschietti's The Flash won't quite run to the box office finish line. This is due to a number of reasons, namely the dying interest in the already moribund DC Extended Universe. With DC's movies now set to be rebooted via James Gunn, it'd be best if the new films and Hollywood in general move past the central premise of The Flash.
The Scarlet Speedster's movie centers mainly on the Multiverse, which has become increasingly ubiquitous in superhero fiction -- both in movies and comic books. Unfortunately, it's become trite in both realms, and the result is that the "main" movie universes become less of a priority amid a slew of cameos. Here's why the obsession with the Multiverse is something that modern movies need to do away with.
Spider-Man's First Animated Theatrical Movie Started the Multiverse Trend
The trend of the Multiverse in superhero movies (and movies in general) began in 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This animated film focused mainly on Miles Morales, the second Spider-Man from Marvel's Ultimate Universe comic books. The events of the film see Miles encountering an alternate universe Peter Parker, as well Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Peni Parker/SP//dr and the dour Spider-Man Noir. At the time, the concept was fresh and original, and it helped that Spider-Man was the perfect character to showcase it with. After all, the Spider-Verse comics involved a similar concept of the many Spider-Heroes uniting from different worlds to combat a common threat.
With how acclaimed and influential the movie went on to be, it's no surprise that it wasn't the last movie to use the idea. The Marvel Cinematic Universe would begin the Multiverse Saga after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, with multiple movies and shows taking advantage of this concept. The first of these was the Disney+ TV series Loki, which introduced multiple versions of the God of Mischief while also giving fans their first glimpse at Kang the Conqueror through one of his own variants. The year 2021 would be capped off by the massive success of Sony and Marvel Studios' Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The movie united the heroes and villains of the MCU, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies, Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man movies and even the Venom films. Other films would also involve the Multiverse in varying degrees, namely Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the somewhat confusing post-credit scenes of Sony's Morbius. Even a popular non-superhero movie got in on the action, with Everything Everywhere All At Once making the Multiverse even more mainstream. Now, 2023 has two movies directly dealing with the idea of multiple Earths and variants, and it's all become far too tiresome.
The Multiverse Detracts from Nuanced, Grounded Storytelling
As in the comics, the biggest criticism of the Multiverse in movies (namely superhero movies) is that it robs the story of any tension. If characters die, a variant can simply be pulled from another universe and slotted in, so to speak. Given that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's greatest event in Avengers: Endgame was right before the Multiverse Saga, the new story beats make that movie's sacrifices feel somewhat hollow. To be fair, it only added to this issue by involving time travel, and it's now clear that both that concept and the Multiverse can easily make for lazy storytelling or simply ideas that are too "out there."
There's a reason why the Multiverse was largely eschewed in previous superhero movie adaptations, especially regarding how casual audiences might react to it. The main problem is that the movies lose a sense of scale, now becoming more about cameos for past movies than developing the characters in a single movie. This is particularly problematic in the MCU, which is already criticized for being an "assembly line" of content that focuses more on the next product than anything at an individual level. For instance, Multiverse of Madness barely felt like a sequel to Doctor Strange, and even the cameos of other characters were largely lacking.
Even the DC Extended Universe suffers from this in The Flash, with the Fastest Man Alive's first solo movie being essentially a crossover film that only loosely adapts one of his most important stories. The Flash's own world, villains and especially his supporting cast fell to the wayside because of this, and it makes the hero almost come off as "less than" from an optics standpoint, as if there isn't much to his story. With The Flash disappointing at the box office, it's highly unlikely to ever be given a followup in a narrative fashion. Given how the Multiverse has been used to the detriment of thoughtful storytelling, future superhero movies could benefit to abandon the concept entirely.
James Gunn's Dcu Has No Time To Waste on the Played Out Multiverse
Now that the new DC Universe is on its way and the cast of Superman: Legacy is being revealed, James Gunn and Warner Bros. Discovery will have to hit the ground running and make DC's heroes into cinematic successes again. That means focusing on those movies and that single universe, not an entire Multiverse of cameos, crossovers and callbacks to past DC franchises. This mentality will ensure that each movie's hero and world have a chance to shine on their own, making actual crossovers all the more important and unique.
The movies themselves should feel distinct and unique -- something James Gunn feels superhero films are lacking, potentially fueling concerns over "superhero movie fatigue." Thankfully, allowing artistry and great storytelling to take the lead seems to be the priority in this new universe. Even Swamp Thing director James Mangold sees his film as a more standalone project than a single piece in a sprawling universe. That's exactly what the DC movie brand needs in order to make each and every hero into a major deal, and that won't be accomplished by focusing on anything but their specific mythologies. In other words, the DC Universe should only focus on the DC Universe, not a slew of movies featuring divergent takes on the heroes.
Needless crossovers and cameo-fests are no longer interesting, and they only serve to diminish individual properties. There shouldn't be any sort of secondary Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or any other major DC character showing up in a movie or TV show. Exceptions include The Batman: Part II, its planned spinoffs and the sequel to Joker, though these unrelated movies were in production before Gunn even took over. They need to remain exceptions to the rule in order for the DCU to find its footing and allow audiences to fall in love with its take on familiar heroes and villains. Hopefully, this will allow the Multiverse as a whole to start dying down as a ubiquitous narrative element. This is the only way it will ever be interesting ever again.
The Flash is now playing in theaters.