De-aging is one of the most contentious debates in Hollywood at the moment, but The Flash takes things to entirely different levels by roping in a multitude of long-dead actors for surprise cameos, and even the ones who are still with us are subject to digital trickery.
While you’d imagine the estates of the late stars in question would have signed off on such a move, it’s morally questionable to recreate the visage of somebody who hasn’t been alive for a very long time for the sole purpose of delivering fan service in a major comic book blockbuster.
Noted comic book nerd and appreciator of geek culture Kevin Smith doesn’t seem to have an issue with The Flash utilizing surprise guests from beyond the grave, though, but we can only hope his comments in an interview conducted by Rolling Stone don’t end up becoming literal whenever the filmmaker shuffles off this mortal plane.
“It didn’t bother me all. I thought it was just a really nice homage to the past. It didn’t feel like an insult. That felt like an homage. Some people are like, “Yeah, but they’re not alive to say yes or no.” And you know, I don’t know any actor who would be like, “Don’t use my image when I’m dead.” Like, you don’t go into this business to try to be shy, right? You want to be seen. And, look, I’ll give the world permission right now.
When I’m f*cking dead, you can literally do anything to my image or to Silent Bob in a movie. Anything you want. You could stick me in f*cking porn, dude. I’ll be happy to be relevant even though I’m not around anymore. I worked 30 years to get my name out there and keep my name on some of the public’s mind. If somebody’s gonna do it for me for free after my death? Oh, please do it, by all means.”
That might be Smith’s personal opinion, but it’s not one that everybody agrees with based on some of the more queasy reactions to The Flash‘s third act finale. The strangest thing is that unlike other examples including Rogue One‘s Moff Tarkin and Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s Egon Spengler, it doesn’t even serve the plot. You could cut the dead folks and it’d still be the exact same film, which is where a lot of the anger has come from.