The Flash: Kevin Smith Responds to Superman Lives Cameo (Exclusive)

The Flash is finally in theaters, completing its years-long road to the audience, and as you might imagine, indie filmmaker and geek icon Kevin Smith has some thoughts about it. Smith, who directed episodes of The Flash TV series and expressed huge enthusiasm for the movie when the trailer dropped in March, told ComicBook.com that one particular scene particularly excited him, given his connection to the source material. Read beyond this point at your own risk. Minor spoilers beyond this point for The Flash.

At one point in the film, when Barry Allen (Ezra MIller) is moving through the multiverse, the audience gets glimpses of a number of alternate realities. In one of those realities, Nicolas Cage appears as Superman, doing battle with a giant, metal spider. Fans of Smith’s likely recognize the reference here; in his stand-up special An Evening With Kevin Smith, the filmmaker revealed that a highly-placed producer at Warner Bros. had an irrational obsession with a scene just like this, and insisted Smith write one into the script for Superman Lives, a project he wrote in the 1990s.

Smith’s hilarious retelling of the whole situation lampooned himself, producer Jon Peters, prospective director Tim Burton, and more. He used to tell it, not just in this one DVD, but at speaking engagements and movie screenings around the country for years, cementing it as a key piece of the lore around Superman Lives.

“For the earliest part of my career, I made lots of nods to pop culture,” Smith told ComicBook.com. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me at the point in my life whenever pop culture nods back at me. For all the times I ever told that Superman Lives story, it delighted me no end to hear it was echoed in The Flash.” 

Smith, who co-owns Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey, will likely render his final verdict on The Flash when his next Fatman Beyond podcast is recorded. Expect him to dig a little deeper into this surprising cameo then. You can subscribe to Smith’s YouTube channel to see it early. In July, Smith will be hosting a live script reading of Superman Lives at Smodcastle, with some of his friends showing up to do an on-stage readthrough. You can get tickets to that event here.

The Flash speeds into theaters on June 16th, promising to reshape the DC Multiverse with the help of familiar faces and brand-new heroes. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) ventures to the past to change history, resulting in massive repercussions for the future. Forced to team up with another version of Barry, the mysterious Kryptonian known as Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and the iconic Batman (Michael Keaton), the Scarlet Speedster is forced to reckon with his mistakes and save a doomed reality. The Flash is directed by Andy Muschietti, written by Christina Hodson from a story by Joby Harold, and produced by Barbara Muschietti.