Things are looking grim for The Flash already, with the latest chapter in the flatlining DCU arriving to dwindling reviews and an even worse performance at the box office, where a $55 million domestic opening weekend and $130 million worldwide haul already have it pegged as a flop.
While there are no doubt a lot of people out there who can justifiably be allowed to voice their frustrations at how the end product turned out; a list that ranges from Zack Snyder and his multitude of supporters to Henry Cavill for being excised from one of the three planned endings, you’ve got to think that Dwayne Johnson has a stronger case than most.
After all, the star and producer of Black Adam was mercilessly mocked for spending so long touting the potential for sequels, spin-offs, and crossovers – as well as dedicating half a decade to recruiting Cavill for a post-credits cameo as the returning Superman – only for him to end up with nothing when it was decreed that his franchise debut hadn’t fared well enough to warrant additional adventures.
And yet, here we are barely eight months later, and would anybody care to take a guess which DCU stablemate earned less money during its first three days in theaters on home soil, sold less tickets on international shores, and landed an inferior Rotten Tomatoes user approval rating compared to Black Adam? That’s right, it’s The Flash.
By the time the dust settles, the Scarlet Speedster’s solo debut may not even be able to match the $394 million brought in by The Rock’s one-and-done effort, so you could forgive him if he was feeling a little pissed right now about being booted from DC in no time at all.
