The DC Extended Universe or DCEU is ending not with a bang or a whimper but more of an audience shrug. Deservedly. For an extended universe, they never really extended themselves. I mean, these are the movies:

Look at that. They had the most popular superheroes in the world and kept returning to bit players. They went “Suicide Squad” third, before Wonder Woman or Aquaman, and then kept giving it to us. Somebody had to make that decision. So much of their strategy seemed to be: “Well, that didn't work ... so let's try it again.” And the universes never really intermingled. Maybe a cameo here or there, but “Suicide Squad” was its own thing, “Shazam” was its own thing. And boiled down, it makes no sense:

• 3: Suicide Squad
• 3: Shazam/Black Adam
• 2 Wonder Woman
• 2 Aquaman
• 1.5 Superman
• 1 Justice League
• .5 Batman

And now, finally, “Flash” arrives a year after its star, Ezra Miller, kept getting arrested. (The Times has a good rundown of the charges; it's a little sad but less problematic than the initial headlines.)

But yes, “Flash,” the Fastest Man Alive, arrives late. He arrives last. That is so DCEU.

It did OK, $55 million opening weekend, but that's not OK when you consider the return of Michael Keaton's Batman. I attribute the soft box office to Ezra's issues and Zack screwing up the DCEU from the get-go. Fool me 10 times, shame on me. Plus if you're in the know, you know that the EU is in fact ending. Quickly. James Gunn is taking over and trying a new DCU. These are sale items. They need to empty the shelves.

So how does that $55 mil compare with other DCEU movies? Not great, but not horribly for recent ones:

Grey = pandemic-era

I remember when “Man of Steel” opened with a mere $116 and I was bummed. Shouldn't it be higher? Well, that turned out to be the third-highest opener for a DCEU flick. And yes, COVID hurt, particularly “Wonder Woman 1984,” which I think would've opened well since there were such good vibes from the first one. But Zack hit before the pandemic did. Zack hurt before COVID did. 

“Elemental,” a Pixar flick, opened second with $29. That feels soft, but then the reviews were soft: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. Or—I should say—the reviews were soft for a Pixar flick. If it stays there, it'll be Pixar's fifth-worst RT score.

The third weekend of “Spider-Verse” fell off by 50% ($27.8) for third, and the second weekend of the latest “Transformers” crap was fourth ($20), falling off 67%.