“I thought it was a really good film”: X-Men Director Claims Marvel Might Have Been Responsible for ‘The Flash’ Failure After Spectacular Box-Office Disaster
Matthew Vaughn has a piece of advice for Marvel and other superhero franchises, saying that the franchises should learn how superhero films are also films
Matthew Vaughn is the mind behind movies like Kick-Ass and X-Men movies, and can be considered an expert in the genre
The director claimed that he really enjoyed The Flash and was shocked to find out that it tanked at the box-office
The director also shared his suggestion for Marvel and other franchises on how to be better
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It is not a secret, the extent to which The Flash royally tanked at the box office, ultimately earning the reputation as one of the worst-performing DC movies ever. Despite people deeming the title that it earned fitting for the movie, the X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn, was surprised to learn about the film’s surprisingly low ranking. In an interview with Screen Rant, he shared his personal opinion on the high-budget failure.
When it comes to superhero movies, Matthew Vaughn is somewhat of an expert in the field. Having directed Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, he is the perfect man to evaluate the formula that The Flash was based on. Surprisingly enough, the director didn’t find anything wrong with it. During New York Comic Con, Vaughn shared his thoughts on the movie with Screen Rant. He claimed,
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“What really freaked me out was that I really enjoyed The Flash–I thought it was a really good film, right? And it died at the box office, right? And I’m like, Wait, hold on, this is a good movie. What happened? And I don’t know whether that was superhero fatigue; you’ve just seen it done. So even now that we’ve made it well, there was some really, really complicated, hard, and quite special, unique filmmaking in that film. Which I don’t think Muschietti got enough credit for what they pulled off.”
Matthew Vaughn at the NYCC 2023
Despite being the go-to resident expert on such matters, the way the box office reacted to this film baffled him. He felt he had no answers regarding what could have improved its journey and extended its lifespan.
Despite his confusion, he now may have been able to identify what could have caused the failure, and that is the oversaturation of the market by Marvel, he feels. Consequently, he has advice that could help them change their course.
This Is How Matthew Vaughn Thinks Marvel Could Get Out of the Rut
The evident slowdown in the superhero market is greatly affecting major studios and their profitability. Consequently, Matthew Vaughn has devised a solution that he believes could potentially turn things around for Marvel as well as for other superheroes. In the same NYCC Screen Rant chat, the director stated,
“I genuinely don’t know what’s happening with the superhero [genre] in the sense that, I do think, maybe we all need a little bit of time off from it,–Maybe someone will make something so great that we will get excited again… Superhero films are films. It’s a film that has superheroes in it. I think what happened was that they became superheroes, and the film part wasn’t that important.”
Matthew Vaughn thinks Marvel should make less films
He then stated what he thought could help Marvel specifically,
“When you’re making a superhero movie, you sort of have to work harder because you’ve got to make people believe it,–That’s why ‘X-Men: First Class’ was pretty grounded. We set it in the Cuban Missile Crisis; they had relatable human problems. And it wasn’t relying on the CG. I think CG’s f–ked up everything as well, because you feel like you’re watching a video game.”
He continued,
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“You’re not with the characters. Apart from ‘Guardians’… I still think Groot and the raccoon are fucking pieces of genius that I feel so much for them. So I’ll be intrigued. I think at least DC is under… I think James Gunn and Safran, they’ve got a good chance of popping, and hopefully [Kevin] Feige will go back to less is more and make less films and concentrate on making them great.”
Thus, although he is still not sure about exactly how everything works, with his expertise and experience, he has shared his point of view.
Sampurna Banerjee, an ardent enthusiast of pop culture and movies, pours her passion into her role as a writer for FandomWire. With a penchant for Marvel, DC, and sitcoms, she has contributed over 400 articles, staying up-to-date to the entertainment industry's latest buzz. Moreover, she's penned over 300 articles for Animated Times and shared her work across several Instagram pages. Currently she is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Calcutta University.