'The Flash' Had Its World Premiere At CinemaCon After Dropping A Brand-New Trailer, And The Hype Is Apparently VERY Real

Matt Fitzgerald4/26/2023 1:30 PM

All the troubles about The Flash and its main star Ezra Miller have been well-documented. Many people had an issue with this movie even releasing once Miller's legal issues popped up. They've since sought out help to improve their mental health. In spite of all that, and in spite of Warner Bros Discovery's massive overhaul of the DC superhero movie slate, The Flash has stayed the course, remained on schedule, and after about a decade of development hell, it's finally here.

So that trailer that dropped earlier on Tuesday in advance of the world premiere at CinemaCon in Las Vegas was dope. As was the first one that ran during the Super Bowl. My biggest concern about both of the trailers is that they were showing too much.

I'm sure the vast majority of media/audience members who were in attendance fully understand the comic book movie genre and really wanted to be there. Hence, they all had to have seen the trailer, or covered it professionally in some capacity.

Whatever concerns I had about that are pretty much allayed now. I did my best to gather up the first reactions to The Flash from reviewers/reporters who I really respect and/or have followed for years. They are almost unanimously singing the praises of this movie and labeling it one of the best superhero movies ever made.

This blog from January seemingly did not lie:

OK here are some of the reactions:

For the sake of not totally slobbering all over this movie before i even see it, the reviews weren't universally glowing — but pretty close.

Now some takeaways from all this with some trailer commentary looped in…

I like how Michael Keaton's Batman immediately uses the death of his parents as a way in to connect with Miller's Barry Allen. There are not only chill-inducing lines delivered by Ben Affleck, but his Batman in action has some sick flashes (pun intended) of action. Not ready to say his role will be bigger than initially believed. Still, seeing Batfleck get a proper swan song is gonna be awesome.

Scared as I am about the trailers showing too much, I can't quite connect the dots on the plot. They're clearly cutting back to the Black Zero event from Man of Steel — aka General Zod's invasion of Earth — and Barry is right in the middle of the action. Once again, Zack Snyder is the blueprint!!! Kidding. Kind of.

Like, once Barry saves his mom, then what? Sasha Calle's Supergirl appears to be broken out of where she's imprisoned by Batman Keaton and Barry. She obviously suits up to fight Zod. But I don't know what we're looking at. Is this actually the SnyderVerse timeline? It seems like Barry triggered some sort of Marvel-style multiversal incursion, as was explored in the latest Doctor Strange movie. That'd be my guess. Then he has to fix it without killing anyone.

Little bonus aside: The Japanese trailer dropped with quite a lot of different footage. You can see where some of the more comedic material factors in.

Above all else I'm glad the movie isn't a disaster. The fact that the CGI/effects aren't fully finished and the reception is this positive is a good sign. It's seriously been YEARS since The Flash was supposed to come out. The capable hands of director Andy Muschetti have finally gotten it over the finish line. Muschietti directed the two It movies and packed plenty of heart and emotional wallop amid all the Bill Skarsgård Pennywise horror and insanity. Can't wait to see how he juggles tones in The Flash.

If none of these critics felt the trailers took away from the finished product, that's good enough for me. Ezra Miller problems aside, I won't be able to stop myself from being there Day 1. I feel a little weird and uneasy about it. However, there were a whole lot of artists who made The Flash come together, so separating the art from the artist when it comes to the main star is a little easier in that context.

DC Studios needs a big win to more or less reset the timeline and carry on with their 10-year plan masterminded by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Sounds like The Flash stands on its own merits as a great movie and the soft reboot DC needs to get on track. To use another Flash pun, it's about damn time! Aaaaand it bodes well that we're getting another iconic Batman '89 callback.