The Flash hits theaters tomorrow, although in some countries the Andy Muschietti-directed film is already available for fans to enjoy. For weeks there have been screenings as a preview, although the vast majority were unfinished versions of the movie.
That is why much of the criticism received for the new Warner Bros. Discovery production based on the DC Comics characters is related to the CGI or VFX, in addition to the presence of Ezra Miller after the various conflicts surrounding the main star of the film. For the most part, those negative comments were directed towards the way in which Muschietti showed the Speed Force, a central element within the plot as well as in the comic it is inspired by, Flashpoint. However, it seems that it has nothing to do with the unfinished versions of the film that were shown.
In an interview with Gizmodo, The Flash director finally broke silence on how he decided to present the Speed Force in the film:
“The idea, of course, is…we are in the perspective of the Flash. Everything is distorted in terms of lights and textures. We enter this ‘waterworld’ which is basically being in Barry’s POV. It was part of the design so if it looks a little weird to you that was intended.”
It is not the first time that DC productions have received this type of criticism, in fact it was one of the most debated points about Justice League in 2017. In recent years, failures in CGI or VFX within the genre have become commonplace, with Marvel Studios also being heavily criticized for low quality on those aspects.
What’s the Speed Force?
The concept of the Speed Force is really one of the most complex but necessary within the DC mythology. It is an extra-dimensional force that gives speedsters the ability to use superhuman speed, surpassing even the speed of light, which is what has allowed Barry to travel through time in both The Flash and Flashpoint.
The Speed Force is also where the speedsters’ energy ends up once they die, in a similar concept that the one used in the Star Wars universe of being one with the force, adding more and more energy to that giant cluster.
Throughout the history of DC publications, the Speed Force has played central roles in story arcs such as Crisis on Infinite Earths. Through the Speed Force, Barry or any other Speedsters have access to multiple realities, so the introduction of this concept in the DCU means the possibility to connect different versions of their characters, such as Marvel Studios did in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
With a new canon to rule the DCU in development, the existence of parallel projects under the Elseworlds label is a good way to tell different stories with the same heroes, and the Speed Force could be the door to bring them together in the future.
