As usual, Ezra Miller uses They/Them pronouns please respectfully use those pronouns when talking about Ezra.
Those eyebrow-raising events have led to speculation about Warner Bros.' plans for the blockbuster-hopeful, which serves as the first solo film for Barry Allen, a.k.a. the Scarlet Speedster, a.k.a. the Flash. Would the studio actually replace Miller with another actor? Will it jettison the film to HBO Max in an attempt to limit potentially negative fanfare that could accompany a theatrical release? Or will Warner Bros. keep the movie in theaters on June 23, 2023 as planned?
Barring unforeseen developments, sources say, Warners is barreling ahead with intention to give the superhero film the full blockbuster treatment. "The Flash" simply cost too much money to scrap the project entirely and it likely will not generate the revenues needed to turn a profit without playing in theaters. For option three to happen without triggering a major backlash, Miller would need to be on their best behavior. And that's a big question, because so far Miller has been dogged by one controversy after another, leaving collaborators concerned about the actor's welfare.
Compounding matters, news broke on Wednesday that veteran film executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are replacing Toby Emmerich as chairs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. Any leadership changes at a studio puts the previous regime's film slate in limbo; with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslov keeping a tight grip on cost controls at the company, the marketing spend for a movie as big as "The Flash" remains a question.
With "The Flash," insiders say it would not be possible to replace Miller without reshooting the entire movie. They are in just about every scene, and there is not enough digital technology in existence to configure that magic without going back to square one. And redoing the entire film is not a realistic proposition for any movie — much less one that wrapped production months ago and already cost hundreds of millions.
However, analysts have pointed out that, with comic book heroes, the character itself is often a bigger star than the actor wearing the Lycra suit. "The thing about superheroes is… it doesn't really matter who is under the mask," Bock says. "You can plug and play different actors in those roles." Though Miller's take on the character has appeared in several DC-mashups, like "Justice League," Bock argues they're not "the face of The Flash yet." In other words, "Ezra is not Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man."
The way the studio sees it, "The Flash" is more than a standard superhero origin story. The movie, which begins as Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother's murder, cracks open the DC multiverse, paving way for Batmans from alternate realities (namely, Keaton and Affleck) to overlap with Miller's Spandex-clad hero. Just think of the potential sequels, spinoffs and team-ups that could inspire.
"The Flash" also gives Warners another viable contender on its mission to keep up with Disney's commercially unrivaled Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC has several properties on schedule in 2022 and beyond, including "Shazam: Fury of the Gods," "Aquaman 2" and "DC League of Super-Pets." But crossover events like "The Flash" have become especially exciting to fans, especially after 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" successfully introduced to mainstream audiences the concept of the multiverse — and blockbuster ticket sales for 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" confirmed that moviegoers really, really like the concept.
Last edited:
