It might throw a baby in a microwave, but ‘The Flash’ is failing to heat up where it really matters

As was to be expected given the sheer insanity on display, one of the biggest talking points coming out of The Flash is the scene where the Scarlet Speedster saves a baby from imminent doom by tossing it into a microwave, although the clip in question has already been weaponized, taken out of context, and turned into an instant meme.

Unfortunately, the movie as a whole isn’t heating up in the way the top brass at Warner Bros. and DC Studios would have liked. The critical, commercial, and audience response could be described as tepid more than burning hot – with its Rotten Tomatoes score having dropped down to 66 percent – and that might end up seriously denting the long-awaited multiversal caper’s chances of sustained success in the long run.

In addition to projections indicating that The Flash‘s worldwide opening weekend at the box office could fall as much as $100 million behind Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – which reigns supreme as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s single biggest misfire – a three-day domestic estimate of $64 million is less than the $68 million debut of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, although an expected four-day holiday haul in the $72 million range will edge it higher with an asterisk next to its name.

On top of that, Ezra Miller’s duel starring role as a pair of Barry Allens has been awarded a B from CinemaScore crowds, which isn’t great within the context of the DCU. It’s on a par with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it’s below the B+ given to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, Joss Whedon’s Justice League, the aforementioned Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which isn’t the greatest of company to be keeping looking at how each of those titles fared.