The Flash Movie Testing Well Amidst Ezra Miller Concerns

Everybody is wondering what Warner Bros. is planning to do about The Flash movie, when its leading star, Ezra Miller, keeps wracking up off-screen scandals. Since being cast as Barry Allen/The Flash in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman and Justice League movies, Miller has been arrested multiple times, from Iceland to Hawaii, with alleged charges that include troubling terms like “harassment,” “assault,” “disorderly conduct” or drinking-related offenses. With The Flash being a $200+ million tentpole film that’s also one of the most pivotal releases in the DC Films lineup, there’s been speculation that Warner Bros. could replace Miller as The Flash. 

However, a new report is stating that even though Ezra Miller’s scandals have caused trouble, they are not impeding The Flash movie from testing well with audiences. 

In a lengthy rundown by Variety we get the following notation: 

Warner Bros. has high hopes for “The Flash.”The upcoming comic book adventure… has been extraordinarily well received in early test screenings, according to sources close to the movie. Given DC Films‘ inconsistent track record in fielding commercial hits, initial reception that “The Flash” could be a crowd-pleasing blockbuster is not only a relief, but a necessity to succeed at the box office.

Now, it is fair if you want to take that “report” with a grain of salt. After all, we’re going strictly on the word “sources” that are “close to the movie.” In other words: people who may very well have a vested interest in The Flash performing well. Why wouldn’t they make the claim that the film is testing well? 

Cynicism aside, the feature on Ezra Miller and The Flash notes that Miller may simply not be enough of a household celebrity name for the mass audience interested in superhero movies to take notice of their scandals. There’s a fair amount of logic in that assessment: After some notable TV roles (Californication) Ezra Miller broke out as an indie movie wunderkind with the 2011 film We Need to Talk About Kevin, in which they played the titular Kevin, a disturbed suburban kid who commits a mass killing at his school. Miller started to get cemented as an LGBTQ+ icon after starring in The Perks of Being A Wallflower as Patrick, a flamboyant gay (and spirited) high school senior. Perks has been a cult hit among certain circles, and Miller’s performance opened doors to other significant indie features (The Standford Prison Experiment), and eventually the playing field of big franchises. Warner Bros. tapped Miller to play both The Flash and the pivotal character Credence Barebone – aka Aurelius Dumbledore – in the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts. 

Well, the last Fantastic Beasts movie (The Secrets of Dumbledore) made it clear that Miller’s time in that franchise may be over. Rumors are that WB could do the same with The Flash: release the movie with Miller still headlining (since it’s all been shot and worked on in post-production), but alter the ending of the time-travel, multiverse storyline to anoint a new actor as The Flash, going forward in the reboot DC movie universe. Time will tell if WB/DC does indeed still back Miller – or not. 

The Flash is set to race into theaters on June 23, 2023.