James Gunn Says the Flash is Great, Which Means It Probably Isn't
New co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn has been synonymous with superhero movies since his surprise hit Guardians of the Galaxy.
Every superhero movie he's worked on has been well-received, so when he said the upcoming Flash is "one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen," it probably means it's going to be good. But some fans feel otherwise.
The Flash has been in production since January 2020 and Gunn has been with DC only since late last year, so he didn't have a hand on most of the finished product.
Still, as leader of the franchise going forward, he has a vested interest in its success. Of course, he'd therefore say nothing but positive things about the highly-anticipated movie.
Fans wonder how honest he'd actually be – especially considering DC is about to go into a full reboot after The Flash.
Many fans are saying this is a bad sign for The Flash. To them, him hyping it up is classic overcompensation for a bad film. He wants people to think it'll be good to drive them in theaters for a big opening weekend, making up for fewer returning viewers when they realize it's not all that good.
Other eagle-eyed fans pointed out that he was never asked his opinion during the interview; he simply offered up his admiration for the film. On top of that, he said nothing about the other three upcoming DC films in 2023.
The sequel to Shazam! is set for release three months before The Flash – yet he hasn't said anything nearly as positive about it as he did The Flash. He went out of his way to say he loved The Flash – even ending the interview by saying, "Can I say one more thing? The Flash is f***ing awesome."
So is Gunn's gushing love for The Flash a bad sign? Or does it mean it's actually good? It's probably somewhere in between.
Early reports from test screenings had The Flash scoring very high, meaning at the very least, it won't be terrible. Gunn is likely feeding off of that positive energy to kick off a strong opening weekend. More than that, this movie represents the end of the original DCEU. It'll be a multiversal movie that, according to rumors and reports, will reset the franchise going forward.
He wants a strong opening to his new-look franchise. While he might truly believe it's a good movie, he was also almost certainly overhyping it.
After almost a decade of mediocre (or worse) DC movies, fans are rightly suspicious about positive reports about upcoming films. And unless The Flash delivers, they'll continue to be.