Should Ezra Miller Return as The Flash in the New DCU?
The Flash is now in theaters and it's not doing especially well — critically or commercially. The film has a 64 precent critic's score on Rotten Tomatoes and has been massively underperforming at the box office, seeing a huge 70 percent drop in its second weekend in theaters. As one of the final films in the old DCEU it's a pretty grim way to go out.
A new DC Universe is on the horizon with James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC Studios last fall with the DCU serving to sort of "reset" the overall cinematic side of DC, though there has been a lot of questions about what — if anything — will carry from the old DCEU to the new DCU. Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash has been perhaps one of the biggest questions — and it's been reported that Gunn and Safran have at least at some point been open to the idea of Ezra returning in some capacity. But now that The Flash is here and we can examine all the variables we have to ask should they get another run as Barry Allen? At this point, it feels like the answer is "probably not."
Ezra Miller's Very Public Legal Woes Remain a Factor
Ezra Miller has made some extensive headlines with legal issues including abuse allegations and arrests and they remain a factor. While the film was reportedly never in danger of being shelved because of those issues, it's hard to deny that those issues didn't in some respect cast a long shadow over the film. While Miller made headlines in 2020 after a video surfaced of the actor allegedly assaulting a woman at a resort in Iceland (no one was arrested, nor were there charges filed in the incident), the bigger issues began in early 2022 with a series of incidents in Hawaii. Miller was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident in a karaoke bar. A Hawaiian couple that the actor was staying with also was granted a temporary restraining order against Miller, though they later dropped the order. Miller was then arrested again in April for second-degree assault, with Miller.
Beyond the Hawaii incidents, there have also been other allegations. The parents of Tokata Iron Eyes filed for an order of protection against the actor alleging that Miller exhibited a "pattern of corrupting a minor". In June 2022, a mother and her 12-year-old child were granted a temporary harassment prevention order against Miller in Massachusetts, alleging that Miller had threatened the woman's family and exhibited inappropriate behavior towards the child. 2022 also saw Miller face felony burglary charges in Vermont over the theft of alcohol from a private home. The burglary charge was eventually dropped with Miller pleading guilty instead to trespassing.
While Miller has, to an extent, addressed some of these issues — in August 2022 they issued a statement attributing their legal issues to a series of "complex mental health issues" and indicating that they were undergoing ongoing treatment — the conversations around them still continue and may have been a contributing factor to why some audiences chose not to see The Flash in theaters. It's not impossible to think that this would be a factor the studio would have to take into consideration should a sequel be on the table or for any future representation of The Flash in the new DCU were Miller to be attached to the character.
The Flash Has Dramatically Underperformed at the Box Office
Even if you subtract the controversy around Miller's personal life from the equation and any impact that could have on future casting decisions, the biggest factor in why the actor probably won't be anyone's first choice for The Flash in the new DCU is simple: The Flash is a box office failure on a pretty epic scale. After its third weekend in theaters, the film had grossed $245.3 million globally and of that number only $99 million came from domestic exhibitors. With the film having an estimated production budget of $200 to $220 million, the film is tracking to be one of the biggest financial disappointments in modern comic book cinema — and the way things are going, The Flash may end up losing Warner Bros. Discovery money overall.
While Miller's performance in the film was largely praised by critics, the overall performance of the film is going to be a lot on their shoulders when it comes to considerations of who to cast for The Flash in the future. Would a studio want to attach to a new film the star of a film that tanked as badly as this one? That doesn't seem very likely. And considering that this is technically Miller's fourth big screen outing as The Flash — they had cameo appearances in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as well as Suicide Squad in 2016 and if you want to count Zack Snyder's Justice League as a separate entity from Justice League, you can say Miller has had five outings as The Flash — the calculus here might just be that their run as Barry Allen needs to be over.
If Miller Doesn't Come Back as Barry Allen, What's Next?
While at this point in things there isn't even a whisper that a fresh iteration of The Flash is coming — no version of the iconic speedster is confirmed to be in the first wave of DCU titles — it's hard to imagine any DC universe without the Scarlet Speedster. Fortunately, the DCU doesn't need Barry Allen in order to run fast. Should the DCU choose to bring The Flash into things and also not bring back Miller, they don't have to go the route of recasting the hero like they've recently done with Superman. They could instead lean into another fan-favorite iteration of the character: Wally West. ComicBook.com's own Jenna Anderson recently made a strong case for why going straight to Wally West as The Flash might just be the best choice for Gunn and Safran's DCU, especially since it seems to align with the idea of an established world populated with other superheroes, a world that will likely be much more fleshed out by the time we actually get to anything featuring The Flash.
About The Flash
The Flash raced into theaters on June 16th, reshaping the DC Multiverse with the help of familiar faces and brand-new heroes. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) ventures to the past to change history, resulting in massive repercussions for the future. Forced to team up with another version of Barry, the mysterious Kryptonian known as Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and the iconic Batman (Michael Keaton), the Scarlet Speedster is forced to reckon with his mistakes and save a doomed reality. The Flash is directed by Andy Muschietti, written by Christina Hodson from a story by Joby Harold, and produced by Barbara Muschietti.
What do you think? Should Miller come back as The Flash for the DCU or do you think it's time to move on? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.