The Flash movie seems to have a curse attached to it. Announced back in 2014 alongside movies like Aquaman and Wonder Woman, those movies have gotten their sequels while the Flash is still struggling to somehow finish its first (and possibly last) instalment. Moreso, ever since the lead Ezra Miller was arrested in Hawai a second time and is reportedly struggling with their mental health.
Back in the day, director James Wan was given a choice between Aquaman and Flash, he picked Aquaman. Wan went on to male DCEU’s first one billion dollar movie and got a sequel soon after. Further, makers like Lord & Miller, Marc Webb and Sam Raima also let go of the Flash, it did not seem like the project would ever get made.
Then Rick Famujiwa came in and went into pre-production with a script but WB preferred someone who would play along with their soft reboot idea. Finally, Andy Mushietti signed on to direct the film.
Miller is in trouble which might cancel his flash
Ezra Miller who plays The Flash/ Barry Allen in the DCEU was arrested twice in Hawaii this month. They were charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident at a bar. Evidently, this incident has caused the executives at WB and DC to have an emergency meeting with Miller to get a hold of the situation, Rolling Stone revealed.
Miller had a previous incident in 2020 where they were caught choking a woman in Iceland. Given previous altercations, it might not be a bad idea to recast them or just end the DCEU. Although this is an odd situation considering WB has a moral high ground. So there are two possibilities here.
Ending the DCEU
I think the idea of ending the DCEU after the Flash might not be a bad one. After the mess of the 2017 Justice League, the franchise has never got going. Except for Aquaman, all the DCEU films have been box office disappointments. Even trying to course-correct many times by bringing a lighter tone to their films did not seem to help.
Bringing in Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn for a 200 million dollar Suicide Squad somehow resulted in a movie that failed to even earn its budget. Meanwhile, Matt Reeves’ The Batman felt like the best thing DC had put out since Zack Snyder’s four hours redux of Justice League which was filmed back in 2017.
Even the box office results of The Batman have been promising, even if it has more to do with how massive the Batman brand is at this point. It seems like solo franchises are the way to go, or maybe create a new DC universe centred around Robert Pattinson’s Batman.
Recasting Ezra Miller as Flash
A simpler solution to keeping the DCEU going after The Flash would be to simply recast Miller. Marvel did the same with Mark Ruffalo taking over from Edward Norton as the Hulk. DC themselves replaced Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman and swapped them out for Keaton’s Batman and Calle’s Supergirl.
Time will tell which route Warner Bros Discovery takes. The Flash releases in the summer of 2023 on June 23.
