What happened in-between? And why was Levy’s controversial involvement with the film every bit as speedy as the fastest man alive? For the answers, I went straight to the source.

“Let me tell you the full, exact story,” laughed Levy, whose “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” hits theaters May 22nd. “I forget when this was; it was sometime before the Writers’ Strike. ‘Justice League’ was cranking up, ‘Night at the Museum 2’ was cranking up, the ‘Flash’ movie was in development.”

“Collectively, the producers realized that movie needed a leader who could focus exclusively on bringing it to the screen,” continued the director, whose long string of comedy hits includes “Just Married,” “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “The Pink Panther.” “And because ‘Justice League’ was looking like it was going to get made, there was this time sensitivity to move ‘Flash’ forward.”

Levy recalled telling the "Flash" producers, "If you’re looking for someone who can devote himself only to 'The Flash,' I can’t be your guy, because I’m the shepherd of my own franchise -- 'Night at the Museum' -- and I’m going to need to pay attention to that."

"That’s really what it was," continued Levy. "We were doing development, and getting interesting places on the script, but they wanted someone with more time and focus than I was able to promise.”

As a result of the “Flash” collapse and an in-demand schedule that has him rolling cameras on the Steve Carell-Tina Fey romantic comedy “Date Night” next week, Levy says he’ll most likely never make a superhero film.

“You know what? It’s not a yearning for me,” he explained. “It’s a thing I’d love to try my hand at, but as I look at the work of guys like [Jon] Favreau, [Christopher] Nolan and Zack Snyder, it occurs to me that there are guys who are genuinely naturals at those sort of films. And I may or may not have that muscle.”

Would you have liked to have seen Levy’s comedic take on The Flash? Or are you happy that he’s given up on comic book movies?