Posted in: Flash, Movies, TV, Warner Bros | Tagged: crisis on infinite earths, dc studios, The Flash, the flash movie, Warner Bros

What The Flash Could Learn From Marvel Regarding Fan-Service & Cameos

The Flash mishandled a lot of things, but the various cameos might be one of the worst aspects. Let's talk about it, and what they could learn from Marvel.

The Flash is coming out of its opening weekend stumbling hard. Many critics [but not all] who saw the film back in April raved about how much they loved the movie, but by the time everyone got a chance to see it, the critical reaction was not nearly as loving, and the small audience that did see the film was divided.  The Flash seems to be a polarizing movie; either you like it, or you don't, with very little middle ground.

The film's cameos are a significant point of contention even among the people who like the film. However, to get into those, we'll have to throw up a SPOILER WARNING for The Flash, so if you've somehow avoided the conversation on the cameos and haven't seen the movie yet, don't read beyond this poster. So let's see how The Flash fumbled its cameos and what Warner Bros. could learn from Marvel, specifically Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Oprah Voice: You Get A Multiverse, And You Get A Multiverse, We All Get A Multiverse

The Flash has examples of how to do cameos right and how to do them wrong. Michael Keaton turning up as Batman again is an example of doing the cameo thing right because he has a place in the story. He's an active participant and he even has a small character arc. While the story might feel like it is bending over backward to include him, he does have a place.

However, where The Flash gets it all so wrong is the Crisis scene while Barry is in the Speed Force. We all see the various Earths and cameos of different versions of Superman and some footage from previous television shows and movies. However, they don't do anything. They have no impact on the story in any way; they only exist to be a cameo.

Compare that to Spider-Man: No Way Home. The different villains from the other multiverses have a part to play in the story. They do something; they move things forward in some ways, and some are even redeemed. The two other Peters also have a place in the story, even if it is much smaller than the villains. They move things forward, and they each even complete small character arcs. Toby Maguire's Peter finally forgives Norman, while Andrew Garfield's Peter saves MJ and maybe starts to forgive himself for failing to save Gwen. They all have an active place in the story and don't just stand there doing nothing.

The closest that Marvel has gotten to something like The Flash is perhaps the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While they don't have much to do, at least the movie took the time to give them a fight scene and let Wanda kill them all in creative ways. The Flash doesn't give its characters enough time even to do that, and there wasn't any reason for this because there was an easy way to portray the multiverse that wouldn't feel as pointless as this one did, and they hint at it in the movie.

From December 2019 to January 2020, the CW hosted the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, which was massive. It spanned across the entire Arrowverse and even tied in shows that weren't part of the CW shows, like Titans and Doom Patrol, while bringing in Ezra Miller as Barry to connect in the movies. Crisis portrayed the different universes simply by showing scenes from the other shows on screen in a montage with the various Earths numbers on them. That was all it took. There was no need to bring back actors from the dead in ghoulish CGI or make a deep cut that only the terminally online would understand. All they needed to do was show some scenes from the original Superman movie; the Wonder Woman show, The Flash show, the Arrowverse, or the DC Universe shows. They overthought these cameos, and by trying to be clever, they made it pointless aside from the "hey, look at that" element.

It's been three years since the CW confirmed the existence of the multiverse on the small screen, and The Flash didn't need these cameos to prove it again. The existence of Keaton, Sasha Calle as Supergirl, and the return of Michael Shannon as General Zod did all of that. However, because The Flash wanted more of those "everyone in the audience claps" moments, they leaned in too far and made them just action figures that stood on screen in dramatic poses that did nothing. Or it's a cameo that shows up at the film's end and makes it worse. Either way, many things made this film stumble, but its handling of the multiverse and how cynical the cameos are might be the most depressing.

The Flash: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Warner Bros. Pictures presents The Flash, directed by Andy Muschietti (the IT films, Mama). Ezra Miller reprises their role as Barry Allen in the DC Super Hero's first-ever standalone feature film. Worlds collide in The Flash when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he's looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry's only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

The Flash ensemble also includes rising star Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon (Bullet Train, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Ron Livingston (Loudermilk, The Conjuring), Maribel Verdú (Elite, Y tu mamá también), Kiersey Clemons (Zack Snyder's Justice League, Sweetheart), Antje Traue (King of Ravens, Man of Steel) and Michael Keaton (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Batman). It's in theaters now.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!