‘The Flash’ proves Marvel still has some catching up to do with its Multiverse Saga

Say what you want about The Flash, but despite the film’s shortcomings and criticisms, its execution when it comes to a huge multiversal threat is something to keep an eye on, especially since it is able to tell one huge story with multiple elements and layers without needing to set up years’ worth of events through different films.

Based on the Flashpoint storyline, where Barry Allen uses his powers to go back in time to save his mother, things go badly wrong when at the same time he creates a world with no metahumans, which is bad news since he also has to relive the events of Zod invading Earth.

What makes The Flash an engaging story to the point where it is not only action-packed but also emotional is that it has a simple premise that most people should understand by this point. DC fans know what the Flashpoint event is going to be about, since it has already been told in the comics. Meanwhile, casual fans know what is going on the moment Barry says he’s “going back in time to save his mother” in the trailers. It’s a simple premise that has huge consequences, and all it takes is some knowledge of the Justice League and the time travel genre. As of writing, it has an average audience score of 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

After watching The Flash, you have to wonder if Marvel plans to just have another hero vs. villain moment, or if it will do more with this story.

Marvel Studios began its journey through the Multiverse saga in Phase Four via WandaVision. The concept was hinted at in episode seven, through a medicine ad parody and was later explained in the Disney Plus series Loki. Out of all the films and Disney Plus originals that were released post-Infinity Saga, at least five had any reference to the Multiverse Saga’ main story arc. It seems like Marvel wants to create a similar Avengers: Endgame-style for its overarching story by building up hype, and leaving tiny clues for fans to investigate.

While DC was known to “rush” its huge superhero events, like the death of Superman during his second film appearance and the formation of the Justice League a year later, it seems it managed to get something right when it came to telling this superhero story with high stakes, but left people in tears. At the same time, it’s no coincidence that it too wants to do a multiverse story. It’s just surprising that it was able to do it so well.

Rather than wasting time building up to the film’s events, it decided to immediately tell that story since it it isn’t difficult to do. Fans already know who are characters are. They know their backstories and what made them who they are. They didn’t need a huge setup to tell a story about Barry Allen saving his mom and the consequences of those actions.

Meanwhile, Marvel Studios is using Phases Four, Five, and Six to explain the big threat that’s about to come in the MCU. It wants fans to anticipate, theorize, and guess what’s going on before the big reveal. This is boring, not to mention, adds to the whole superhero fatigue debate due to the overwhelming amount of media that fans have to watch just to understand.

If people want to understand The Flash, they just have to tolerate Joss Whedon’s Justice League or endure four hours of Zack Snyder’s version on Max. They didn’t need to watch Shazam!, Black Adam, or any of the Max DC shows just to watch a simple movie about time travel.

The SnyderVerse-era DCU has a habit of throwing some superhero ethics into its films, and The Flash does fit into this by telling an emotional story about a young boy wanting to have more time with his family and learning that he shouldn’t take things for granted. This made it was more than just an action-packed superhero blockbuster, and the fact that the movie managed to showcase a multiverse event without any grand setups is such an amazing feat.

Marvel Studios may want to pay attention, especially if it wants its Multiverse Saga’s conclusions to produce the same results as Avengers: Endgame. If it wants to have fans engaged, then perhaps don’t bore the audience with every single detail. It should learn to keep things simple and use what’s already established rather than constantly adding new things to it. If it can learn to do that, then there may be hope for the Multiverse Saga after all.