The Flash has already made its way onto screens at home after the long journey to make it to the screens at movie theaters. The movie is already infamous, as the studio had doubled down on the hype based on their faith that the movie was going to be perceived as the best superhero movie ever made. The ace in the hole for Warner and DC was the big nostalgic card of Michael Keaton returning to the role of Batman for the first time since 1992’s Batman Returns. Of course, the elephant in the room early on, months before official promotion, would be the unnerving revelations of the off-screen behavior involving The Flash‘s star, Ezra Miller. The news of Miller’s criminal acts would become a devastating blow to the yet-to-be-released tentpole blockbuster.
The Flash became a notorious flop of the summer. The film reportedly lost an estimated $200 million dollars for the studio. The movie leaked onto a Twitter account and garnered 1.7 million views. The superhero movie is now made available to be rented and purchased on digital, and in an effort to raise a bit more of a profit out of it, Warner Bros. announced last week that the movie is available on “the blockchain” as an NFT. This means you can view the film on the blockchain service Eluvio, where the film is described as a “multimedia NFT allowing fans to own and to engage with the 2023 DC superhero film in an exciting way.”
According to IGN,
Aside from the fact that you can watch the film in 4K, those that purchase it will gain access to an “immersive Web3 experience” that allows them to access five digital locations that contain hidden augmented reality (AR) collectibles and will allow them to unlock exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage. The blockchain version of The Flash will also feature a voucher for those that purchase the film, allowing them to redeem it for a DC3 Super Power Pack NFT from the DC NFT Marketplace. But outside of the NFT pack, owners will obtain “randomly selected key art” featuring characters from the film with “varying levels of rarity.”
A new reason the movie reached a higher tier of infamy is the shocking realization of the quality of CGI used in the film. The Flash had compiled fan event screenings in the time leading up to premiere, but right when it officially released into theaters, leaks of the CGI-laden scenes had shown up on Twitter. Now that it’s finally available in high-definition, the full-on clips of scenes involving Barry saving infants from a hospital explosion, Barry using Speed Force to travel through time, and the many controversial CGI cameos have gone viral on the social media platform. Interestingly, the divisiveness that the online debates have spawned in response to the cameos don’t involve anyone defending the look of the CGI, but that the leaked cam images from the theaters actually made it look worse. The consensus, even from the positive side, is that they don’t look “as bad” in HD.
Back when the film released…a month ago…the director, Andy Muschietti, defended the look of the CGI by saying it was an artistic choice given that Speed Force distorts what Barry is seeing.
For reference, the picture below features Henry Cavill’s appearance in the film and, in effect, the last time he’ll be seen as Superman.