In what is genuinely surprising news to everyone that may be concerned, a recent string of test screenings of the upcoming The Flash film has blown everyone away, with scores higher than any other DCEU film previously released. Whilst this could be a heavy marketing ploy, especially with the well-publicized issues that have surrounded not only this film, but the studio as a whole, it’s unlikely they’d open themselves to more issues by lying about test audience opinions.
A PR Nightmare, Shelved Films, and a New Studio Head
As reported left, right and center, over the last couple of years Warner Bros. and the DCEU have taken their fair share of hits. Whether it was the leaking of the treatment of the stars on the set of Justice League back in 2017 by replacement director Joss Whedon, the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp situation (potentially forcing rethinks for Aquaman 2), or the seemingly constant developments regarding Ezra Miller, there always seem to be some sort of fire for their PR departments to put out.
The merging of Warner Bros. and Discovery back in April was viewed as a move that could potentially stabilize the DCEU ship, but if anything, it’s had the opposite effect. A few weeks ago it was announced that the Batgirl movie had been scrapped, which in itself wouldn’t be odd, but considering it was in post-production, had testing screenings, and was more or less a finished $90 million product, it was a bold move from David Zaslav.
Fans everywhere expected more films in various stages of development to meet the same fate, especially the troubled The Flash film, but so far, no other DCEU films have followed Batgirl… yet.
The Flash (is it going to be good?)
Whilst not due for worldwide release until June 2023, test screenings of the film have sounded overwhelmingly positive. With the highest test-score ratings in the entirety of the DCEU slate so far and Miller being perfect for the role, which is in itself a contentious opinion, with fans of the character splitting down the middle as to Miller’s previous portrayals, the film is building its marketability back up to a point some fans may end up being excited for its release again.
With the shelving of Batgirl, news broke that The Flash was undergoing reshoots as David Zaslav wanted to take the DCEU in a new direction with his new ‘ten-year plan’. Ultimately this meant that a few story elements completely changed in an attempt to rework the final product to something more befitting Zaslav’s supposedly high standards.
Spoilers Ahead
Michael Keaton’s Batman is supposedly in up to half of the film’s 140 minutes, suggesting an incredibly important and large role in the story.
Far more surprising news and I’d argue pretty much no one was expecting are the cameos from a CGI’ed version of Christoper Reeve’s Superman, when the Flash goes back in time to change his mother’s fate. This is where we also see Linda Carter and Adam West as well.
Whether these cameos stay in the film come general release, whether they change the plan for the film as a whole as they have done many times since it was first announced in 2013, or even whether we see it, all still remains to be seen with how turbulent things are over at DC right now.
However, if these reports are to be believed, we may actually be getting a film with the quality that DC fans have deserved for years, but as with all things DCEU, let’s wait and see, shall we?
Source: WorldofReel.com
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