Comic book adaptations are a tricky gamble—no matter how much hype builds around a project, one misstep can topple the fortress of anticipation of the die-hard fans without a single punch landing astray. While 2024 turned a fresh page after a series of record-breaking mishaps from both Marvel and DC, Andy Muschietti stepped in 2025 still carrying the baggage of The Flash
’s 2023 crash-and-burn. Though some fans tried to meet him halfway and see his side of the story, Muschietti’s defense crumbled as the Internet morphed into a warzone of hot takes and cold hard facts.
In a recent conversation on Radio TU, Andy Muschietti shed light
on his reasons, explaining why he thinks The Flash
did not leave a mark on the comic book universe. “I found out in private conversations that a lot of people just don’t care about The Flash as a character,”
The Flash
director said, reflecting on Warner Bros. expectations from a $200 million movie. Muschietti lamented that even if he were to do away with every other reason, The Flash
did not appeal to the “4-quadrants”
of the movie-going audience.
Andy Muschietti explains why he thinks ‘THE FLASH’ failed.
“A lot of people aren’t interested in Flash as a character, the public half of that, the four quadrants, the two female quadrants, there are a lot of women who aren’t interested in Flash as a character”
(via:… pic.twitter.com/UreadxhsSA
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 12, 2025
In fact, he believes Flash as a character did not pique the interests of “particularly the two female quadrants”
that contributed to the sway against the 2023 movie. The Flash
grossed $271.4 million against a budget north of $200-220 million. Although critics praised the flick for humor and action, visual effects, and the third act made it a box office bomb. However, after Andy Muschietti’s soul searching, DC geeks practically penned an encyclopedia on everything that derailed The Flash
.
DC fans are no strangers to the studio’s stumbles
, but Andy Muschietti’s defense sparked more offense than ever.
DC fans clap back at Andy Muschietti’s reasons behind The Flash’s failure
Andy Muschietti may have had his good night’s sleep, unburdening the reasons from his shoulders over why he thinks The Flash
failed when it did, but the fans clearly lost it. Although the subpar box-office performance was previously attributed to factors like the decline of the superhero genre and the franchise’s reboot coupled with the film’s marketing practices, after Muschietti’s reasoning, fans have gone unapologetic in listing what more went wrong that he did not talk about.
Real world events didn’t help the movie at all. Among other things, the story was just poorly done.
— Loveless (@LovelessEnt) January 12, 2025
What does that even mean? Didn’t appeal to the 4 quadrants?
It failed due to the film being absolute trash and poor writing.
— Pablo Shicasso (@PabloShicasso) January 12, 2025
Really? The writing was lazy, the story was a convoluted mess, they relied on nostalgia bait and we got not one BUT TWO Ezra Millers….
But This is what you go with?
— 🍍🌺 𝔹𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕙𝕒 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕔𝕤™️ 🔜 CubsCon 🐻⚾️ (@Bodhi_Tweets) January 12, 2025
Many fans feel the writing was “lazy
,” leaving Flash’s storyline in an absolute mess. Some others took a swipe at the director for avoiding the real problems with his “scapegoat
” rationale.
No, it failed because it was trash.. the CW has had great success with the exact same character, it was just fumbled hard
— I’mma Duck (@imgoingtoduck) January 12, 2025
They made one of the worst casting decisions I have ever seen.
— Vegi (@VegiVoorhees) January 12, 2025
Muschietti’s claim that women “just aren’t into the Flash” feels like a lazy scapegoat. The horrendous CGI was a far bigger culprit in The Flash’s failure—blaming demographics ignores the movie’s real problems.
— Gotham’s Crusader (@PixelGhostX) January 12, 2025
On the flip side, they also called out Muschietti for capitalizing “nostalgia bait.”
The DC fans were merciless in their backlash with many pointing their fingers at the choice of the cast. While a few fans sympathized with the real-world events impacting the movie’s rollout following the pandemic, nearly every fan was seated on the idea that even without them, The Flash
never stood a chance.
Read More: From Marvel to DC: Ryan Reynolds Pairs Up With ‘The Flash’ for a Brand New MNTN Ad
What do you think of Andy Muschietti’s reasons behind The Flash
‘s failure? Let us know in the comments below!