10 Reasons The Flash Failed

10. Marvel Did It First

In the comics, Flash has been dealing with alternate versions of himself since 1961's "Flash of Two Worlds", but Marvel brought the idea of the multiverse to movie audiences first, with 2019's Avengers: Endgame, and set the ground rules for it in 2021's Disney Plus series, Loki. While these films hinted at the wild storytelling possibilities the multiverse offered, it wasn't until Spider-Man: No Way Home that the multiverse conceit realized it's full potential.

No Way Home took the unprecedented step of bringing in Spider-Men from previous iterations of the franchise to interact with the latest version of the character. The idea of seeing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield donning their Spidey-suits one more time drove fans gaga, and powered No Way Home to a massive $260 million dollar opening weekend and a $1.9 billion dollar worldwide gross.

After that, any multiverse film that followed would have an uphill battle standing out.

Unfortunately for WB, No Way Home stole The Flash's thunder, and even the promise of Michael Keaton's return as Batman could not inspire the same kind of fan fervor as Marvel's record-breaking smash hit.

If The Flash crossed the finish line first, it might have faired better.