The Flash Movie Bringing Back Justice League Actor Billy Crudup

10/02/2020 05:01 pm EDT

Another familiar face from Zack Snyder's Justice League is likely to join the cast of The Flash, as actor Billy Crudup is currently in early negotiations to reprise his role as Ezra Miller's on-screen dad. Crudup has some bargaining power in his corner after his recent Emmy win for his role in The Morning Show, and it sounds like he could play a major role in the solo flick. The Flash is reportedly based on the Flashpoint storyline, which sees Barry travel back in time to prevent his mother's murder — a crime which his father, played by Crudup, is serving in prison for in the theatrical cut of Justice League.

This would return Crudup to the scene of the crime, though the report from THR that announced the negotiations indicated that Crudup is basically "rejoining" the project that has been in development since 2016. Director and producing partners Andy and Barbara Muschietti are now helming The Flash, taking over from previous directors including the team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, as well as The Mandalorian director Rick Famuyiwa.

Flashpoint has always been connected to The Flash solo movie, and Muschietti himself confirmed that would serve as the basis of his plot though it would be different from the comic book.

"It is a story of time travel: Flash travels back to try to save his mother," Muschietti said. "It is a spectacular action movie but it has a big heart."

He previously added in an interview with Fandango that it would be "a different version of Flashpoint than you're expecting.

"What captivated me about the Flash is the human drama in it," Muschietti explains. "The human feelings and emotions that play in the drama [of it]. It's going to be fun, too. I can't promise that there will be any horror [elements in it], really, but it's a beautiful human story."

Other actors returning to the DC Universe include Ben Affleck AND Michael Keaton as their own unique version of Bruce Wayne AKA Batman.

"[Affleck has] a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie," said Muschietti. "The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck's Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven't seen before. It's Barry's movie, it's Barry's story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that's one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That's where the Affleck Batman kicks in."

The Flash is currently set to hit theaters on July 1, 2022.

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