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.

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.

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DC fans are no strangers to the studio’s stumbles, but Andy Muschietti’s defense sparked more offense than ever.

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.

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.

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.

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What do you think of Andy Muschietti's reasons behind The Flash's failure? Let us know in the comments below!