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The following contains spoilers for The Flash, now playing in theaters.
The Flash is in many ways the swan song of the DC Extended Universe, even coming out in theaters almost exactly 10 years after 2013’s Man of Steel. The shared universe was plagued with middling and sometimes toxic reception, much of which was aimed at how dark its takes on classic DC heroes were. Unfortunately, some entries in the universe took things in the steep opposite direction, which ironically wasn’t exactly a winning formula.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods was heavily criticized for its jokey nature and inability to take things seriously. That’s not to mention its almost laughable post-credits scenes, which either continued reveling in terrible comedy or failed on providing any sort of set up for future movies. The Flash actually follows in these footsteps, and it’s detrimental to the first half of the movie.
The Flash’s First Half Is Full of Cringey Humor
There are definitely some legitimate laughs to be had in The Flash, but these are downplayed due to how many of the jokes try so hard (and fail) to land. Much of it stems from Ezra Miller’s portrayal of Barry Allen, with the usually stoic scientist presented as a clumsy borderline man child at times. That’s especially the case with the younger version of the character that he meets by traveling through time. This young Barry revels in childish antics and is constantly running off at the mouth, never taking anything seriously. His mentality only changes after the old Barry finally snaps at him, with both characters thereafter being far easier to handle.
Another problem with The Flash is its post-credits scene, which essentially leads to nothing. It’s merely a long-rumored scene in which Barry and Aquaman discuss the many changes to the timeline, namely The Flash’s different versions of Batman. It’s essentially just an extended joke without much of a punchline, meaning that audiences wait for a bunch of nothing. The fact that it doesn’t tease a new adventure or dive into the rebooted DC Universe is almost expected, but it’s still disappointing. It could’ve easily been used as a more fitting end to the DCEU, making the joke even more of a sting. This recalls the previous DC Extended Universe Movie, which suffered from the exact same issues.
Shazam! 2’s Worst Elements Were Its Humor and Post-Credits Scenes
Of the recurring criticisms for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the tone and humor were easily the most damning. Many disliked how Zachary Levi’s Shazam was constantly making unfunny jokes, with his siblings being far less grating in their portrayals. It didn’t help that Billy Batson’s mortal form was a lot more serious, making Levi’s performance in his superhero persona all the more annoying. When the preceding Shazam! film came out, it was seen by some as a breath of fresh air due to its being lighter than the other, far darker DCEU movies.
Sadly, the sequel came at a time when cringey comedy in superheroes movies had become far more irritating than entertaining. It also had two post-credits scenes, one of which further trundled down hill with the bad comedy. The second of these scenes was a repeat of the first movie’s post-credits scene, foreshadowing a conflict with Mr. Mind that will never come to pass on the big screen. These are the exact same problems that The Flash has, with both heroes even wearing red and having lightning bolts on their costumes.
It’s also worth nothing that both the cinematic Flash and Shazam were largely different from their usual portrayals, which only served to make matters worse. Thankfully, The Flash was able to course correct and actually call out one of its star’s humor, making for an even more satisfying and far more emotional second half. In the case of the second Shazam! movie, however, it’s now cemented as something of an overly humorous flop, though audiences and DC fans were mostly just laughing at it, not with it.
The Flash is now playing in theaters.