How the Flash tripped over at the Box Office

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We were looking forward to the release of the Flash for a long time. Dating back to 2015 when Zach Snyder released his film schedule in Hall H and comic-con (what a pleasure it was to be there) we were anticipating the upcoming story of one of DC’s most iconic characters. So much has transpired in the DC world over the last eight years and while there have been a host of set backs it hasn’t curbed the enthusiasm of the fans. That is why I love the DC community, because there is a passion and love for our universe continues to grow and prosper.

Along with the passion, love and enthusiasm of any fan base comes the ever growing negativity and that unfortunately can be much more powerful. It consumes corners of the internet spreading like a virus, people feed on it and unfortunately it has become popular to talk down, step on, and spread negativity when it comes to DC films. Within a short period of time, some of these people have becomes CGI experts, story telling geniuses and casting agents (mind you – every time Batman has been cast, the general negativity against the actor at the time has been nothing short of ill placed). Unless you’re working in the industry directly you have no idea what is going on with the production of a film, the “he said, she said, I have a source” is a rope that we pull on that at the end of the day is nothing more than click bait. I respect that people have the right to voice their opinion as I am here, however the growing negativity around DC films has become tiring!

I’m not here to talk about the story of the Flash, the CGI, casting, or the story. The Warner Bros’s revolving door of organisational restructures and cost cutting measures has had a direct impact on its films and they have directly contributed to the box office stumble that we’ve seen with the Flash. We know and understand the Flash is a representation of what was left from Snyder’s world and in business timing is everything.

The timing of the restructure at Warner Bros, the introduction of James Gunn and the reboot of the DC Universe personified the Reverse Flash approaching Barry Allen from behind and stabbing him in the heart. Executives and board members are paid significant sums of money because they are tasked with making key decisions that have a global impact on an organisation; Warner Bros yet again failed to execute. The plan to restructure who was going to come into Warner Bros (James Gunn and co.) to lead the DC Universe, and timing of the public announcement was nothing short of a disaster. All of this created a whirlwind amongst the DC fan base, all while the promotion of The Flash kicked off. Warner Bros decided to end one universe, reboot it with a new slate of films with James Gunn as the face of it all while we were meant to get behind the pending release of The Flash. This created a collision course, confusion, debate, twitter conversations with Gunn, and a film slate of random films that has did nothing but distract us from The Flash.

Once again the planning and execution from Warner Bros has been the cause of its own demise. All while James Gunn is partially involved in the promotion of his last Marvel film. Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Ridiculous! Warner Bros didn’t have control of Gunn’s contractual commitments to promoting Guardians, but they did have control over when he started his new role!

Without additional context as to why the timing of these key events plaid out the way they did, the public announcement of James Gunn’s arrival & DC universe reboot could have been planned post the release and promotion of The Flash giving it a proper runway allowing Barry Allen to generate enough speed to truly run!