For many fans of Superman, no actor filled the role better than Christopher Reeve. The first to take flight on the big screen, Reeve is a staple of of the character. He was also very outspoken about Hollywood’s need to make money by way of cashing in on big names and brands, rather than through good films. He said as much on talk shows, talking about how Hollywood executives just wanted to reach into same well over and over again on the surface level.
So why is this a problem now? Years after Christopher Reeve passed away? This is an issue because The Flash includes Reeve’s Superman as a way of getting fans excited about the past of DC comics and the future of the franchise. It is, for lack of a better way of explaining it, only there for the money grab, a shallow way to squeeze more money out of something that was already successful. People hear that Christopher Reeve is back as Superman in a DC movie and they’ll go see it for him.
That’s something that Reeve himself would have probably hated.
Now look, Reeve was not against returning to the Superman world. He played a small part in the CW series Smallville when the show was airing that was, honestly, for the nostalgia of it all. The difference there was that he wasn’t playing Superman again, and he was doing so of his own choice. This move in The Flash (along with the inclusion of Nic Cage’s Superman and the rest of the cameos) is all just a grab at what fans wanted without any real substance behind it.
And that’s what Reeve had a problem with. It’s the cash grab without the importance or quality behind it, and that’s exactly what his “cameo” in The Flash is. Honestly? It’s not worth it.
There was no real reason for Reeve’s scene in The Flash—just a moment for people to scream and cheer and generate money. Sometimes, those scenes are earned. Thinking of Wonder Woman’s “No Man Land” scene or even Captain America being worthy of Mjölnir, those were earned throughout the film.
Reeve’s scene in The Flash was not that. It was a scene meant to get fans yelling with no depth past that. It’s not that we should never indulge nostalgia or remember an actor’s performance after their death, but when someone has been outspoken about sequels and the substance behind them like Reeve was, it feels disingenuous to have this cameo in The Flash when it really was just to have Christopher Reeve in the movie.
They could have included Brandon Routh for that section as they were supposedly the same version of Superman, and it would have cut out this ickiness. Instead, it’s Reeve, and it’s important to remember that Reeve probably wouldn’t have liked it.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
