Warning: This article contains spoilers forThe FlashandSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
It’s easy to take the greatness of theSpider-Versemovies for granted, because they’ve delivered beauty and perfection at every turn, butThe Flash’s misguided handling of more or less the same story shows how badly theSpider-Versemovies could’ve turned out.The Flash’s cheap fan service and lackluster emotional storytelling serve to highlight what makesAcross the Spider-Verseso great. It manages to plunge audiences into various alternate realities, with plenty of mind-bending action and hilarious sight gags, without ever taking the spotlight away from its resonant characters.
After being hyped up as one of the greatest comic book movies ever made by Tom Cruise and Stephen King,The Flashis a huge let-down. It’s not the worst superhero movie out there – there are some really fun sequences and it provides a perfect ending forMichael Keaton’s Batman– but it’s nowhere near the masterpiece that it was sold as.The Flashmight not be the deeply moving, beautifully rendered superhero multiverse adventure that it was marketed as, butAcross the Spider-Verseis.
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The Flash & Across The Spider-Verse Have Basically The Same Premise
BothThe FlashandSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseare fun-filled comic book adventures that take audiences into the multiverse with alternate versions of iconic superheroes and supervillains, but the similarities go even deeper than that. They both revolve around a young superhero – Barry Allen inThe Flashand Miles Morales inAcross the Spider-Verse– who disrupts the space-time continuum in a desperate bid to prevent the inevitable canonical death of a beloved parent. Barry wants to save his mother, who died in a horrific accident when he was a little boy, while Miles wants to save his dad, who’s destined to be killed in the line of duty like every other police captain who gets close to a Spider-Man. Both Barry and Miles defy a superhero authority to alter the timeline, and they both end upstranded in the wrong universewhen their quest goes awry.
The fact that the stories of these two movies are so similar makes it easy to compare the two. BothThe FlashandAcross the Spider-Verseare all over the place, as is the nature of multiversal movies, butAcross the Spider-Versemanages to maintain its focus on Miles’ journey every step of the way, whereasThe Flashquickly devolves into an incoherent mess. The finale ofAcross the Spider-Verseis a jaw-dropping cliffhanger ending setting up the thrilling conclusion of the trilogy, while the finale ofThe Flashis a bleary whirlwind of ugly CGI full ofdistasteful computer-generated resurrections of deceased actors.Across the Spider-Versewas already being praised as a masterpiece, butThe Flashmakes it look even better.
Why Across The Spider-Verse Is So Much Better Than The Flash
As far as interdimensional superhero movies go,Across the Spider-Verseis everythingThe Flashisn’t. UnlikeThe Flash,Across the Spider-Versenever loses sight of the emotional core of its story. Before bringing the multiverse collapsing in on itself,The Flashdoes set up a compelling hook with personal stakes: Barry is willing to risk the fabric of reality to save his mother. But the movie promptly puts that storyline in the backseat as Barry enlists the help of Supergirl, Keaton’s Batman, and his own alternate self to fend off the invading forces of General Zod. Even when the Spider-Society introduces a T. rex Spidey, a VR Spidey, andDonald Glover as the Prowler,Across the Spider-Verseremains focused on Miles and Gwen’s friendship and Miles’ futile bid to live up to his parents’ expectations.
BothThe FlashandAcross the Spider-Versehave cameos by familiar faces and self-aware nods to the franchise history. But the difference is thatAcross the Spider-Verseuses these cameos and meta references as the gravy on top of a substantial story, whereas the cameos and meta references inThe Flashare supposed to be the substance.Across the Spider-Versenever lets the appearance of other Spider-Men distract from Miles’ character development; instead, characters like Hobie Brown and Pavitr Prabhakar complement Miles’ journey. Hobie inspires Miles to go his own way while Pavitr hilariously acts as a Greek chorus commenting onMiles and Gwen’s “palpable” romantic tension.
The Flashwas supposed to be one of the biggest movie events of the year – a glorious return for Keaton’s Batman and a promising first chapter for the new DCU – but it just ended up being a victory lap for a much better superhero movie. Its dull visuals make theSpider-Verseanimation look even more vibrant, its disjointed arcs makeSpider-Verse’s character development seem even sharper, and its pandering exploration of alternate realities makesSpider-Verse’s emotionally engaging interdimensional exploitsfeel even more impressive. It’s more rewarding to watchAcross the Spider-Versea second time than to watchThe Flashonce.
