The Cameos Scene In "The Flash" Is The Worst Scene Ever In A Comic Book Film

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

I have to give "The Flash" movie credit. It's awful and, in many ways, a prime encapsulation of everything wrong with modern Cinema, but it is memorable. One day there will be a fantastic documentary made about this movie. I've already reviewed the film on my personal Twitter. My opinion of it has not changed at all. I've grown to dislike the movie more. I was the only person in the theater the day "The Flash" came out, and it was the most miserable film experience I've had in my life. I've seen worse movies, but as a cinematic experience, I can't recall anything that beats "The Flash." So I won't give a full in-depth breakdown of the movie. Still, I want to talk about the infamous cluster fuck of CG cameos featured at the end of this film because I genuinely believe it's the worst scene ever in a comic book movie.

Let me ask a quick question, why does the scene exist? What purpose does it serve for the movie other than shoehorning in pointless cameos? If you take it out of the movie, you missed absolutely nothing. It would cut into the film's seven-hour run time, so it've been smart to put this on the cutting room floor. Many people came out of "The Flash" and rightfully criticized how PlayStation 2-like the CG was. All those criticisms are correct, but I'm sorry, that's a much bigger complaint than people let on. Many people said, "Yeah, the CG was bad, but I look past it." You shouldn't. One of the appeals of these movies is that they are given an unlimited budget. And not only does "The Flash" not look good, it seems like an amateur-hour production. I know they were lying to save face, but the fact that anyone at Warner Bros. came out and said that this was the best DC film since "The Dark Knight" might be grounds for imprisonment. 

Why do I think it's the worst scene ever in a comic book movie? It's because it's the only scene in a comic book film that I legitimately find offensive. Mostly, I don't have any real problem with fan service. People complain about "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" having too many references to the old films, but things like X-Wing, tie fighters, C-3PO, and Darth Vader make Star Wars. It's like complaining that a basketball movie featured too many three-pointers. These are things that are ingrained into the DNA of those films. But using fan service to get a reaction out of people comes across as totally pandering. Doing every one of these cameos in CG was a terrible idea. It's why I buy into the idea that resurrecting dead actors for fan service is a moral issue. Christopher Reeve as Superman is iconic. I don't think 20 years ago; he desperately hoped that his likeness would be resurrected and used as a shitty-looking CG Muppet in a bad Flash movie. As embarrassing as that cameo was, it doesn't hold a candle to the Nicolas Cage cameo. 

The story of how Nicolas Cage was supposed to be Superman is known amongst film buffs. The late great Jon Schnepp made a documentary about it a decade ago. Kevin Smith's story about how he was asked to write a scene in which Superman fights a giant spider is legendary. Maybe I'm off-base here, but I don't think the average film fan knows or cares that Nicolas Cage was supposed to play Superman at one point. It's a cameo that appeals to a tiny sector of film fans. It's a big reason why this movie bombed at the box office. It lacks rewatch-ability because so much of it feels like an in-joke. When I was on "Lights, Camera, Barstool," I often complained about this. I keep up with these universes. I know that Ben Affleck wasn't playing Batman for a while, and now he is again, but just for this movie. The average film fan doesn't know that. They think Robert Pattinson is Batman, so when they watched the trailers for this, they probably went, "What the fuck?" But at least Ben Affleck is actually in the movie and acting. He's not a computer-generated effect used as a pawn on a fan service chessboard.

So we have bad CG, offensive cameos, and a scene that serves no greater purpose to the film's overall story. That's a pretty good argument. Are there comic book films that feature smaller budgets and more pathetic storytelling? Of course. Objectively speaking, "The Flash" is a better production than "Steel" starring Shaquille O'Neal, but we live in a much different age of comic book films now. We've had comic book films nominated for Best Picture and win Oscars. In 2023, there's no excuse for this movie and scene to have existed. It's a rare instance in which I'm very proud of modern audiences. By bombing, audiences sent a message that we don't want more movies like this. I think we may be getting farther away from the idea of a connected universe being the most essential thing in the world. "The Flash" was always going to be a cinematic Hail Mary. It was a film that was trying to connect 1 million different storylines. But even if they managed not to fumble the bag, I still would've complained about the cameo scene. It's the worst scene ever in a comic book film.