When Andy Muschietti’s superhero adventure The Flash first screened for audiences in April 2023, the cut of the film wasn’t complete. We didn’t know it at the time, but the studio behind The Flash – Warner Bros. – was beginning a campaign that would promote the film while also attempting to protect some of its closely-guarded secrets. And at the start, it worked. The Flash received positive reactions from critics and fans who caught early screenings of the movie. And all of the details that we know about the movie included key supporting players, but still hid some of the movie’s biggest secrets.
With less than two weeks to go until The Flash opens in theaters, it will be interesting to see if Warner Bros. can maintain the veil of secrecy that has surrounded the first DC Movie to properly dive into the concept of the Multiverse. It has been a challenge. Heck, even Andy Muschietti has let a few details slip in the marginal press he did before release. Let’s dig a little deeper into how Warner Bros maintained this level of secrecy, and why.
How Warner Bros. Kept The Flash Secret
When Andy Muschietti sat down with CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, he spoke about spoilers, and the fight that they waged with the studio to keep some of the movie’s most tantalizing reveals under wraps. Specifically, Muschietti told our hosts that one key element of the marketing campaign for The Flash would have been held from the public, if it were up to the director. He said:
I was probably thinking that this would remain a secret until the day of the release. (laugh), We were so naive! We were like, ‘We can't tell anybody, okay?’ … But I mean, it fell to pieces, obviously. Probably around the time that Keaton accepted to play the role and there were all these announcements and stuff.
Yeah, sitting on the concept of Michael Keaton returning to the role he helped to make famous on screen would have been impossible. In fact, quite the opposite happened. Warner Bros. made Keaton’s involvement a major component of the trailers since the first spots. But by revealing that plot point, it allowed the studio the chance to get creative with some other secrets.
As mentioned, Warner Bros. brought The Flash to CinemaCon in April. The annual event, held in Las Vegas, celebrates the movie-going industry, and invites studios to promote their upcoming features to exhibitors (and press). Usually, when a studio knows that they have a sure-fire hit, they show it in advance. And that’s what WB did with The Flash.
Sort of.
There’s an abrupt ending to the version of The Flash we saw at CinemaCon. I won’t tell you what it is. But I can say that IF this was the real ending, it would work. However, shortly after the screening, it became known that WB snipped the actual ending of The Flash off of that print. In addition, they refused to show the mid-credits scenes.
I almost hate to give Warner Bros. credit for this move, on the off chance more studios attempt it. This makes it difficult for us to properly cover releases of studio movies with ending teases or spoilery scenes weaved into the credits. But by leaving those scenes off the prints they showed at both CinemaCon and the early fan screenings that were held in May and June, the studio has kept The Flash’s biggest secrets offline. Admirable.
Ezra Miller, And A Dialed-Down Premiere
Still, The Flash would have to engage in a full-court press (pun intended) leading up to the film’s release, right? This usually includes a film’s stars appearing on the late-night talk shows, popping up on podcasts, and participating in a traditional press junket.
Not for The Flash. Neither Ezra Miller nor Michael Keaton have done press on behalf of the movie, leaving it up to new Supergirl Sasha Calle and the Muschietti siblings, Andy and Barbara, to carry the load. And for the film’s planned June 12 premiere event, Variety reports that Keaton will not attend due to filming on another project in London, while Miller “will make a low-profile appearance at the Los Angeles premiere on June 12, only posing for photos rather than doing interviews.”
Miller’s situation could have been predicted. The actor remains the subject of controversy regarding recent arrests and murky accusations that seem to have faded since Miller apologized and agreed to undergo treatment. In fact, a source told Variety:
Ezra wants the movie to open and the conversation to be about the movie and not about Ezra. They are focused on their mental health and don’t want it to be transactional.
Keeping Miller out of the spotlight was a strategic publicity play. But whether intentional or not, it also helped to protect even more of the movie’s secrets, as spoilers often get revealed during the conversations cast members have leading up to a film’s release. We can’t count on one hand the number of times that Spider-Man star Tom Holland has let a Marvel cat out of the bag while promoting a movie. Keaton also can be loose-lipped, and rarely shows interest in protecting cool secrets when he has them to share. So by shutting the actors down leading up to The Flash reaching theaters, Warner Bros. once again succeeds in maintaining the lid that rests on top of this summer blockbuster… for now.
Will It Work?
We will know for sure after The Flash opens. Tracking on the film started low, but these early reactions and positive buzz likely have gotten blockbuster fans excited. And last weekend, we watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse wildly overperform its expectations, meaning those early predictions can be useless. Also, this push for secrecy has inspired The Flash director Andy Muschetti during the creation of the movie. Since he knew that Michael Keaton would have to be revealed, he told ReelBlend:
The outcome of all of this is when something that you thought would be a secret gets exposed, you have to create new secrets! (laugh). And so with this, I'm telling you that on the 16th, you're gonna have to see things that you will not expect.
You know, the way things used to be, before the Internet came around and made every anticipated movie an open book, for all the world to see. The Flash opens in theaters on June 16. Grab your tickets now.
