Credit: Warner Bros.The Flash (2023) might have been one of the most highly anticipated superhero movies of the year, but unfortunately its box office figures suggest that it’s destined to be one of the biggest flops of the year.
It’s possible that many have refused to watch the film due to all the controversy surrounding actor Ezra Miller in the years leading up its release, or maybe a lot of people just don’t think it looks very good. And then of course there’s the whole “superhero fatigue” issue.
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As for those who are giving the film a chance, it’s turning out to be a very mixed bag. On one hand, you have people who think the latest DCU installment is great fun, while others are criticizing the storytelling and the poor VFX.
Whether you’ve seen the film or not, maybe the truth is that we’re no longer invested in the DCU because The Flash marks the end of this particular timeline, with DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn having previously confirmed a new slate of films that will form a brand-new continuity.
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The Flash certainly has a lot of fun with the DC Multiverse, but there’s no denying that the film also renders every installment that came before it utterly meaningless.
This is evident by a single cameo alone, which comes in the form of George Clooney, who reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in a scene that suggests Ben Affleck’s version of the caped crusader has, for lack of a better word, been “deleted” from existence.
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While Clooney’s cameo is momentarily hilarious, in retrospect it’s quite depressing to see that Zack Snyder’s unique and serious vision for the DCU, which was established in Man of Steel and built upon in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2021), has been completely squandered and ultimately played for jokes.
But it’s not just George Clooney’s cameo that has left many fans conflicted. During the third act, there’s a whole bunch of cameos from non-DCU superheroes, who are revealed inside the “Chronobowl”, a sort of multiversal “hub”.
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We see Nicolas Cage’s Superman (from Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, which was canned in the ’90s), Helen Slater’s Supergirl from the 1984 film of the same name, a version of Jay Garrick/The Flash, and three more characters, whose actors have each passed away: Adam West (Batman), Christopher Reeve (Superman), and George Reeves (Superman).
Christopher Reeve is CG-rendered, though it’s a little hard to tell whether the other two, Adam West and George Reeves, are also CG or whether it’s the use of superimposed footage from their respective television shows, Batman (1966) and Adventures of Superman (1952).
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Either way, some aren’t happy with the fact that the likenesses of deceased actors has been used for the purpose of cameos, which have been a huge selling point for The Flash.
Now, superhero comic book aficionado and filmmaker Kevin Smith, who wrote the script for Superman Lives, has defended these cameos. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Smith said he isn’t bothered by the cameos, describing them as “a really nice homage to the past”, and that he’s happy for his own likeness to be used in anything when he’s dead.
Check out Smith’s full quote below:
“It didn’t bother me all. I thought it was just a really nice homage to the past. It didn’t feel like an insult. That felt like an homage. Some people are like, ‘Yeah, but they’re not alive to say yes or no.’ And you know, I don’t know any actor who would be like, ‘Don’t use my image when I’m dead.’ Like, you don’t go into this business to try to be shy, right? You want to be seen. And, look, I’ll give the world permission right now. When I’m f—king dead, you can literally do anything to my image or to Silent Bob in a movie. Anything you want. You could stick me in f—king porn, dude. I’ll be happy to be relevant even though I’m not around anymore. I worked 30 years to get my name out there and keep my name on some of the public’s mind. If somebody’s gonna do it for me for free after my death? Oh, please do it, by all means.”
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Using the likeness of a deceased actor in any film or television show certainly raises some important ethical questions, and in an age where an artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT, or other ground-breaking technologies such as “Deepfake”, are becoming increasingly dominant, this is an issue that’s only going to get more complicated as time goes on.
For now, one question worth asking is whether or not the cameo scene in question is actually any good. The short answer is that The Flash‘s VFX problem doesn’t end with this part of the film. While the likenesses of Christopher Reeve, Helen Slater, and Nicolas Cage are pretty accurate, they still look entirely artificial, which gives them a sort of “uncanny valley” presence in the film. As a result, the general consensus is that these cameos don’t seem to be evoking a particularly emotional reaction from audiences.
Check out the final trailer for The Flash below:
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As per Wikipedia, here’s the synopsis for the film:
Barry Allen/The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which traps him in an alternate reality without metahumans. He enlists the help of Batman and the Kryptonian castaway Supergirl from alternate realities in order to save this world from the restored General Zod and return to his universe.
The Flash is now out in theaters.
It stars Ezra Miller (Barry Allen/The Flash), Sasha Calle (Kara Zor-El/Supergirl), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Ron Livingston (Henry Allen), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne/Batman), and Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne/Batman).
Do you think it’s insensitive to use the likeness of deceased actors in films? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!