“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

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.

Also Read: James Gunn’s The Flash Did a Major Disservice to Grant Gustin and Arrowverse in a Big Way

Matthew Vaughn Didn’t Expect The Flash to Flop

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,

“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.”

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.

Also Read: “I’m gonna take that phone call”: Unlike Johnny Depp’s Refusal to Return as Jack Sparrow, Grant Gustin Will Return as The Flash Under 1 Condition

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.”

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,

“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.

The Flash is available to stream on Max.

Also Read: Ezra Miller’s Reported Exit Clears Up Route for a Fan-Favorite Actor to Take Over as The Flash