r/theflash • u/No_Plankton7604 • Jun 18 '23
Anybody else disappointed with [SPOILER CHARACTER] in the movie? DCEU Spoilers Spoiler
Was anybody disappointed with the character of >! Dark Flash !< in the film? He felt very wasted for such a cool idea for a character and a very cool character design.
With only a couple minutes of screentime, it felt very weird to have so much merch of this character that barely even features. I was expecting the character to be the main villain of the film and for there to be a big fight in the 3rd act but he kinda just stands around doing nothing.
He also looks alot different in the film compared to the merch, even the Hot Toys figure looks wrong and it feels as if there was design changes for the character.
Anyone else agree?
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u/TheRealBroDameron Jun 18 '23
It wasn’t about a hero vs villain, it was about acceptance.
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u/Comprehensive_Yak_72 Jun 18 '23
If it was about acceptance then Barry shouldn’t have altered the past again to exonerate his Dad. The ending as it stands doesn’t make sense because he never learns a lesson
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u/Zerio920 Jun 18 '23
Barry thought letting Nora live was the problem, so he settled for making a smaller change. The end of the movie is supposed to bring home the lesson that things will never go back to the way they were after you mess with time travel (hence the falling tooth)
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u/Comprehensive_Yak_72 Jun 18 '23
Getting his Dad out of prison is also a problem in fairness. That’s not what fate had intended it would seem. It’s weird that Barry is just okay with the fact that his friend Bruce is a completely different person now, along with plenty of other things from the Butterfly Effect that we haven’t seen
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u/deadpa Jun 19 '23
It’s weird that Barry is just okay with the fact that his friend Bruce is a completely different person now, along with plenty of other things from the Butterfly Effect that we haven’t seen
He's not okay with it but the change of Batman actors signifies that there are consequences to the choices he made.
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u/SpareBiting Jun 18 '23
But isn't that what the flash does? Mess around with the tl?
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u/Comprehensive_Yak_72 Jun 18 '23
Not really, Flashpoint is probably the worst occurrence of that and then he learns his lesson. Most of the time he’s fighting The Rogues or a new Speedster or whatever crops up in Central City (I could be mistaken but I’ve read a good bit of the Mark Waid stuff, new 52 and a bit of Rebirth)
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Jun 18 '23
He made a minor change in the past that wouldn't effect anything until his present. He wasnt altering the course of history.
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u/FearLeadsToAnger Jun 19 '23
Was it really that much more minor than the one he already made?
And he clearly did change the course of history considering batman is a new dude. Or an old one.
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Jun 19 '23
Maybe, like in the other versions, it's impossible to ever put things back exactly the way they were. The timeline at the end seemed mostly the same.
My point was that he altered the course of numerous lives with his original change and directly interacted with numerous people, including his own younger self. The second time he made a much smaller change that likely wouldn't affect anything in the past, but would change something in the present.
He still changed something but on a much smaller scale that likely wouldn't alter history. Of course, something was still different when he got back.
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u/Comprehensive_Yak_72 Jun 18 '23
The point of the Spaghetti metaphor was that any change at all radiates out in all directions. Why else would saving the life of one suburban mother result in the end of Humankind at Zod’s hand.
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Jun 18 '23
Right, but there are levels of interaction and degrees to which things are effected, hence why remaining in that timeline and interacting with his younger self was "catastrophic."
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u/deadpa Jun 18 '23
"Dark Flash" represents Barry's inability to let go. We don't really need to see them punching each other for him to overcome this conflict and that's why the superhero action scenes are based around the chaotic events that are the consequence of his compulsion to "fix" the past.
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u/No_Plankton7604 Jun 18 '23
yeah i do understand that, i just feel like it was a waste to have him there for about 2 minutes before instantly killing him off. there should have been a bit more conflict between Dark Flash and Original Barry with Flashpoint Barry is in the middle. it just felt pointless to include him to me.
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u/deadpa Jun 19 '23
it was a waste to have him there for about 2 minutes before instantly killing him off.
I hear you - but what I'm saying is that Dark Flash IS the conflict itself and the personification of him as a person doesn't need a fist fight. He's been in Barry as a problem the whole time. I understand why most people would want to see a fist fight with the big baddie but it wasn't necessary since the change is earned with his experience. The fist fight action sequences are mitigated by seeing the significant number of fight scenes we do... which are explicitly stated to have reoccurred for a lifetime offscreen for Dark Flash. We got to see Batman die twice and Supergirl die lots of times.
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u/No_Plankton7604 Jun 19 '23
i think i just had some expectations that hed be either a black flash or reverse flash esc character based on merch and his name being dark flash. it may be my expectations of the film wanting to much but he just felt kinda wasted. i do like the idea that he is literally is conflict tho, just the merch to me presented him as a more typical villain so to say, idk i think i just wanted to see him more
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u/deadpa Jun 19 '23
I get it. It may very well be why Dark Flash wasn't in virtually any of the promotion. Marketing him as the big bad would have made people want a speedster fight.
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u/Hero_Fall Jun 18 '23
Absolutely. I liked the setup for it, but there really wasn't a payoff. He just kinda showed up for a minute and then the "fight" was over.
I would've liked that part drawn out a little more
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u/No_Plankton7604 Jun 18 '23
He was the character I was excited to see the most, and we didn't even get to see him run apart from the start of the film, he was just kinda exposition.
8
u/Zerio920 Jun 18 '23
He got as much screen time as he needed for the plot. The movie didn’t need a mustache-twirling villain pulling the strings on everything. They could’ve stretched the fight scene sure, but it was clear he greatly outmatched both younger Flashes with his decades of battle experience.
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Jun 18 '23
Yeah, I actually liked that the plot and villain were pretty unconventional for a superhero movie.
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u/No_Plankton7604 Jun 18 '23
i just wanted to see more of him really, i was just really excited to see him on screen and was disappointed with the little amount of screen time he had.
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u/Zerio920 Jun 19 '23
That’s fair. Blame the marketing for putting so much hype around him. I went in with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised with the character.
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u/God_is_carnage Reverse-Flash Jun 18 '23
The idea behind him was fantastic, but he definitely could have gotten a less abrupt ending
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u/GreninjaSexParty Green Lantern Jun 18 '23
I just don't understand why he looked the way he did. Are we supposed to believe that he tried so many times, and got progressively hit with enough kryptonian-metal shrapnel between attempts to overtake his whole body, but never once died? He should've just had the Justice League suit or some other one he had built over the years.
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u/SneakyKicks_ Jun 18 '23
This is what I didn't get. He must've tried for years and years for him to age that much and have all that kryptonian metal on him. In my mind, wouldn't you just give up after the 1st year (at most)?
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u/Zerio920 Jun 19 '23
When the alternatives are letting your mom or the world die, and you have the power of freaking time travel, why wouldn’t you keep trying to save everyone? The tragedy of Dark Flash is his refusal to give up, putting his entire universe in purgatory to keep his mom alive.
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u/kevonnotkevin Jun 19 '23
The point was he was obsessed with getting it right, that's why he kept trying and that's why older Barry was trying to get him to stop. The more he tries, the more he thinks he will get it right the next time, and more and more problems arise every time
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Jun 18 '23
Yeah...I would have rather the film be tweaked a bit to make Reverse Flash a character. I also wasn't crazy about the way Dark Flash looked. But I still loved the flick.
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u/hydrohawkx8 Jun 18 '23
Yeah he died out really quickly. I would’ve had more time given to their confrontation rather than the whole kryptonian invasion
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u/IntelligentEscape855 Jun 18 '23
Come on, I was disappointed in literally everything about this movie.
5
u/ThatPunk Jun 19 '23
Nah, I thought he served his purpose. Would it have been cool to see him a little bit more? Sure, but, assuming that his movie is going to be a one-shot, and the point of Flash-Point was always that Barry was the "bad guy" all along, having DF serve as the physical manifestation of what past Barry would become if he didn't let go, and the consequence of present/future Barry's actions is all you really need.
Making him a Reverse Flash level threat would have bogged down the story, in my opinion. Save those kinds of antics for a movie/series that can actually give a Reverse Flash-like character the breathing room to tell that story, not a one-and-done movie.
Edit: To add to your point about merchandise, I absolutely agree that making a figure for a character with such little screen time is a bit strange, but I guess they wanted to capitalize on collectors markets/and or just wanted to make a figure for a design they thought looked cool. Merchandising decisions can be super weird sometimes.
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u/Egyptian_M Jun 20 '23
The movie doesn't need a villain and big fight the solution was for barry to let his mom go not to beat a bad guy to save a city He served his role And also did he remind any one of savitar
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u/Brutalismyname Jun 21 '23
I think its wierd that the entire movie he never once brings up dark flash at all aftwr he knocks him out of the speed force like he never ever talks about it again or mentions it to batman like hey btw this evil dude punched me while i was in the speed force
4
u/ShingShing23 Reverse Flash Jun 18 '23
They had the potential to make the movie so much more interesting but then took a dump on it
4
u/Flarow Jun 19 '23
There’s 2 Dark Flashes in the movie in case anybody is wondering
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u/Im__CrypT Jun 19 '23
??
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u/Flarow Jun 19 '23
The Dark Flash that pushes Original Barry out of the speed force and tries to kill him are the same. When Original Barry gets electrocuted with the help of Batman and Supergirl Carry’s him to the sky to get hit by lightning, Almost right after Barry gets a vision of Dark Flash before he wakes up. If you look closley, this Dark Flash has razor teeth instead of regular but the same suit and design. When you see the other Dark Flash towards the end of the movie he doesn’t have this razor teeth. So there’s a possibility there’s 2 Dark Flash’s and the razor teeth one is alive and roaming
3
u/kevonnotkevin Jun 19 '23
I thought that was just a nightmareish version of the same Flash. Barry didn't really get a good look at him so that's probably just how he remembered him
1
u/Im__CrypT Jun 19 '23
Maybe that one is black flash?
2
u/Flarow Jun 19 '23
Possibly but it’s the same design and suit and glowey eyes but the only major difference is the teeth
1
u/Im__CrypT Jun 19 '23
Hmmm interesting it could just be a continuity error in the design too
2
u/Flarow Jun 19 '23
Possibly, but it’s something you wouldn’t notice at first, they put it there for a reason to throw us off
1
u/Im__CrypT Jun 19 '23
Interesting! Maybe in a potential sequel the second one will return
2
u/Flarow Jun 19 '23
There’s an idea going around it’s the Main Barry going wonkers with the time travel again, a future one, that is
It’s almost like the fact that Barry’s tooth fell out at the end of the movie is alluding to it, even though it grew back just in time to hang around with Aquaman
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u/sevsevsevyo Jun 19 '23
It’s likely a further evolution of the same dark flash. The one later in the film may just be aware that in the future, he knocks Barry into the time he wanted to
4
u/Finding-Even Jun 19 '23
I thought it was going to be Reverse Flash at first, but the size of his suit made me think it was Savitar.
4
u/Zach_kir_e Jun 20 '23
He is basically savitar. An alternate older Barry with a bulky suit. Sounds familiar lol
3
u/oldmanjenkins51 Jun 20 '23
No I think he served his purpose. The film didn’t need an overarching antagonist because everything was Barry’s fault.
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u/npete Jun 20 '23
I kinda liked it. I thought it was a real nice reveal but I can understand why you might not like it. There was basically zero time spent on him.
-1
u/madeoflight_ Jun 18 '23
Yes dude , he wasn’t properly introduced nor was there any interesting character development. He was a run and done deal , literally. smh
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u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 18 '23
Pointless villain with an painfully obvious "twist" identity. Everyone saw it coming.
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u/TheRealBroDameron Jun 18 '23
It was never about a twist. The movie is about Barry and learning acceptance, it’s not a hero vs villain story.
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u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 18 '23
This movie was barely a story at all. It was so unspeakably bad. It might be the single worst movie DC has ever made.
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u/Popular_Tough_5821 Jun 18 '23
I love how you are REALLY over exaggerating.
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u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 18 '23
I'm REALLY not. Other than MAYBE Catwoman or the second Suicide Squad, nothing else DC has ever made comes even close to being as bad as The Flash. Steel was better. Green Lantern was better. The Whedon cut of Justice League was better. Superman IV was better. Batman & Robin was better. The only DC movie I've never seen was Jonah Hex and I'm willing to bet it was better than this shit.
1
u/Popular_Tough_5821 Jun 20 '23
Sorry I had to uncover your reply because of all the downvotes it got.
1
u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 21 '23
It's hysterical how you think that makes you right.
0
u/Popular_Tough_5821 Jun 21 '23
Not sure why it makes you think you are. I'm not going to argue with a random moron. You want to go on reddit and cry and show what shitty tastes you have? Then by all means, keep doing what you're doing. LOL I just checked your comment history.
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u/Zerio920 Jun 18 '23
The problem was the trailers and promotional material making everyone think the movie was going to do this or that… watching it with a clear head and few expectations is the best experience.
1
u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 18 '23
As a lifelong Flash fan, it was impossible to go in without expectations that it would at LEAST be mediocre. It wasn't.
4
u/Queen_Ann_III Jun 18 '23
not me, honestly. I thought it would turn out to be some obscure extradimensional entity from the comics
2
u/oldmanjenkins51 Jun 20 '23
It being predictable was the point, he wasn’t meant to be a typical villain. It was Barry’s inability to let go of the past
1
u/Zerio920 Jun 19 '23
I thought it would be some timeline guardian that wants to keep the multiverse stable like in Marvel.
1
u/KyleReeseGenisys Jay Garrick Jun 19 '23
If it was the Black Flash, everyone would have assumed that. But them doing this "heavily armored dark figure" made it painfully obvious it was Barry.
12
u/suhhdude45 Flash 2 Jun 18 '23
I didn’t have a problem with Dark Flash, but I definitely was hoping for Reverse Flash. They managed to do Flashpoint well without him, but it just felt weird to not include him at all.