Summary
DespiteThe Flashbeing heralded by DC Studios CEO James Gunn, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, and some critics as the best superhero movie, some DC fans disagree. Tim Burton seems to share their sentiments for reasons that may be personal and reflective of poor leadership at WB.
WB did its best to hypeThe Flash, but that didn’t help it from becoming one of the biggest box office bombs for DC. Some fans love it, some hate it, and others didn’t seeThe Flashbecause ofallegations against and actions of Ezra Miller. Tim Burton seems to be a part of the group that takes issue with the film, speaking to the unregulated use of AI and the studio not securing his approval before bringing back his DC characters.
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During an interview withBFIinanticipation ofBeetlejuice 2, Keaton’s Batman was brought up when Burton was asked if he regrets working onSuperman Livesstarring Nicolas Cage, which never got off the ground, possibly because ofMars Attacksbox office failure in 1996 and WB siding with McDonald’s over not being able to sell toys because ofBatman Returns.Burton said, “When you work that long on a project, and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, a little bit.” Burton also said, “It goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
While director Andy Muschietti pays homage to Burton’s desire to have Superman fight a giant spider inThe Flash, with Cage in the same Superman suit seen from the early test photos of the ’90s, there is no denying that the actor looks AI-generated despite statements made fromThe Flashproduction declaring that Cage was there in person to shoot the cameo scene. As for Batman, Burton thinks thatThe Flashmisrepresents his adaptation of the character, but to be fair, not only is Burton on record stating that he never read the comics, butKeaton was excited to return as Batman. Furthermore, Keaton’s Batman is not meant to be the same Batman from before anyway, as Flash meddled with the timeline within the context of the film to reflect an altered version of that Batman. This is like Scott Snyder’s Batman in the New 52 comics, a variation of Grant Morrison’s Batman. They share a history that includesFinal CrisisandBatman Incorporated, but it occurs afterFlashpoint.
The Flashand how it came to be highlights the studio’s thought process in assuming what would cater to the general audience from howFlashpointwas initially meant to reset the DCEU. Gunn statedThe Flashwould set up the DCU reboot. However, his solution to this is to leave Miller’s Flash stranded in a throwaway universe with a variant of George Clooney’s Batman and a black-out drunk version of Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry, with the DCEU left in limbo despite what was supposed to transpire followingZack Snyder’s Justice League.
The Flashcame at an unprecedented time regarding the SAG and WGA strikes, and it was already in hot water for the moral question of bringing back characters played by departed actors through computer generation,including George Reeves' Superman. Either way, it’s only natural for DC fans and the creators to have differing opinions, so just because Burton has a problem withThe Flashdoesn’t mean fans have to.
