The Flash's Max Streaming Debut Lags Behind Black Adam

'The Flash' is now streaming on Max, but the viewer numbers spell out an ominous reality for the DC franchise.

By Kofi Outlaw

DC's The Flash is now streaming on Max, and the viewer numbers are pretty surprising, as The Flash is off to a slower start on streaming than Black Adam was when it debuted on HBO Max back in December. 

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The Flash apparently pulled in views from 1.1 million households in its Live+2 Day window debut on Max; Black Adam, for comparison, pulled in 1.2M households in its three-day debut. That's a drop of -8% in viewership between Black Adam and The Flash – a ratio that was certainly reflected into the theatrical box office returns (or lack thereof) for each movie. Black Adam took in $393.3M worldwide (on a budget estimated to be between $200-250M); The Flash earned $268.5M worldwide (on a budget of $200-220M). To add insult to injury, The Flash was running in theaters for 71 days, compared to the 57 days that Black Adam got, before being shuffled off onto digital release. 

To be clear: none of this looks good for the DC movie brand. Both Black Adam and The Flash promised bold new eras of DC movies beginning, while also delivering some of the signature Zack Snyder Universe staples. It was a strange mix of old and new – and a plan that was quickly undercut by the announcement last fall that DC Studios was being launched, and a whole new DC Universe was on the way. Since that time, it's been hard for any DC film project to get a foothold at the box office, as the final remnants of the franchise expire and give way to the new DC Universe Chapter One reboot coming in 2025 with James Gunn's Superman Legacy. 

The latest DC film to take a hit in theaters is Blue Beetle which has failed to earn even $100M worldwide after more the ten days in theaters. Ironically, Blue Beetle has been one of the better-reviewed DC films in the last few years according to critics and fans, but even that hasn't helped bring in fans, and seems to suggest beyond any lingering doubt that there is a major stigma attached to the DC franchise at this point. The fact that even streaming releases aren't catching on with viewers is an even worse death knell for the DCEU, until 2025 arrives. 

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 The final evidence will come with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, whose December release date (after delays) looks somewhat uncertain, given the continued Writers' and Actors' Strikes. 

The Flash is now streaming on Max. Blue Beetle is now in theaters. 

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