Despite playing Barry Allen for a decade, with nine seasons as the speedster, Grant Gustin didn't appear in The Flash. Could he have saved the movie?
Grant Gustin, who played Barry Allen in The Flash series, did not appear in the speedster's first solo movie, and that leaves an important question in the air: Could Gustin have saved The Flash? The movie told a multiverse story, with Ezra Miller's DCEU Barry Allen going back in time to stop his mother from being murdered and his father from being found guilty of the crime. While Barry was successful, the character's meddling with the past completely changed the future, setting up The Flash's multiverse cameos as Miller's character finds himself in an unknown new world.
Among the movie's main characters to come from the multiverse were Michael Keaton's Batman and Sasha Calle's Supergirl, with a series of other characters, including Christopher Reeve and Nicolas Cage's versions of Superman, appearing in the movie during an extended multiverse sequence. Despite The Flash giving fans a look at other DC universes, Gustin's Barry Allen didn't appear in the movie. The explanation for Gustin's absence from The Flash, as revealed by director Andy Muschietti, was that he "just had to pick" a few characters from the wide array of DC heroes that have existed in live-action. With The Flash bombing, maybe Gustin's inclusion could have helped the film.
A Grant Gustin Cameo Couldn't Have Saved The Flash But It Would've Helped
Gustin having a multiverse cameo in The Flash would not have saved the movie, as the majority of the characters that appeared in the film's multiverse sequence were silent, with most just looking at the camera for a few seconds before the film cut to the next multiverse DC hero in the Chronobowl sequence. That said, the actor's inclusion could have helped the film. Discourse over Gustin getting snubbed by The Flash's team led to the movie being seen in a negative light by many DC fans months before the film hit theaters, and with The Flash set to lose $200 million, Gustin's inclusion might have softened that hit.
The actor is synonymous with The Flash for an entire generation. Gustin first played Barry Allen a decade ago, appearing in a two-episode arc in Arrow season 2 back in 2013. After that, the actor led his own spinoff series, The Flash, which recently concluded its run after nine seasons. During his time in the Arrowverse, Gustin played The Flash opposite a wide array of DC heroes, as the DC TV universe featured several crossovers between its many shows. While the DCEU faltered with movies having divisive receptions, the Arrowverse thrived for years.
Gustin's presence in The Flash would have made the film a must-see for Arrowverse fans from all over the world, who watched him play Barry Allen for a decade, a boost in sales that The Flash's poor box office numbers show the movie needed. Adding to the reasons Gustin should have appeared in The Flash is the fact that Miller's DCEU version of the character interacted with Gustin's Barry Allen through the multiverse, thanks to the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. It was exciting to see the movie and TV versions of The Flash meet, and another reunion in The Flash movie would have been a nice follow-up.
The Flash's Grant Gustin Snub Was Only One Part Of The Negative Response
While DC fans were mad at The Flash's Gustin snub, that was only one of the aspects that led to the movie having such a negative response. The multiverse cameos that did make it into the film ended up leaking in poor quality before The Flash was released in theaters. The leaks revealed that the movie possesses some truly hideous use of CGI, with the multiverse cameos looking like they came straight from a video game. The Flash's poor CGI likely turned many people away from seeing the film.
The shoddy VFX ruined the enjoyment many could have of seeing Cage's Superman in The Flash, with the actor finally getting to play the part after his Superman Lives was canceled. The movie's choice to feature dead actors poorly recreated with CGI instead of Gustin was severely disliked by fans. The Flash also suffered from being tied to a dead universe, as James Gunn will soon reboot the DCEU with his DC Universe. Beyond those issues was that Miller has been involved in long-running legal controversies.
Would Replacing Ezra Miller With Grant Gustin Have Saved The Flash?
Finished movies have replaced troubled actors before, which DC could have done by bringing in Gustin for Miller's place after the star's many controversies. However, that would have been unfeasible with The Flash's already hefty budget and would have likely done the film little good. If The Flash had starred Gustin instead of Miller, the film probably would not have had such a negative narrative leading to its release; however, without fixing the movie's other issues, such as its heavily criticized CGI, The Flash would still fall short of being the success DC expected it to be.
