Ezra Miller has discussed the future of The Flash with WB executives in an attempt to keep the movie on track and a new report revealed his reaction to the studio considering canceling the film. The Flash is one of the upcoming DC Extended Universe projects slated for 2023, following up on the character introduced briefly in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before becoming a main star in 2017's Justice League. Although DC films have had success this year, with their Robert Pattinson-led The Batman landing in the top 5 domestic films, there has been plenty of drama swirling around their upcoming projects. This includes the delay of Aquaman and the Lost City to give it more time in post-production, which also necessitated pushing back Shazam! Fury of the Gods into its former release date, and most notably the cancellation of Batgirl, a $90 million HBO Max project that was canned following Warner Bros. merger with Discovery.
However, in spite of the dramatic nature of these occurrences, one of the most troubling aspects involves the future of The Flash, which is set to arrive in theaters on June 23, 2023, featuring Miller's return to the DCEU alongside both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton reprising their former roles as Batman. The future of The Flash has been seemingly in jeopardy for some time, as Miller's off-set behavior has been drawing lots of negative attention to the actor. After being arrested twice, once for harassment and once for assault in Hawaii this April, they were charged with felony burglary in Vermont earlier this month. A week later, Miller apologized for their behavior, saying that they were seeking mental health treatment.
Related: So, Does Aquaman 2's Delay Mean Even More Of Ben Affleck's Batman?
Per THR, this week Miller and their agent Scott Metzger had a meeting on the Warner Bros. lot with film chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy to discuss the future of The Flash. While the string of bad headlines dogging them hadn't bothered the actor, the idea that The Flash might be canceled provided them the kick they needed to reconsider their behavior and make an apology. According to one of THR's sources, "they care about The Flash. It's one of their favorite characters to play."
This is the best news about the future of The Flash that has occurred in the past four months. However, it will remain to be seen if Miller truly keeps their image clean and seeks the treatment they have promised. If they can maintain a consistent course until next summer, however, it seems entirely possible that DCEU fans will finally be able to see The Flash.
However, if everything backslides and The Flash is actually canceled, this could spell very bad news for DC. While they still have their hands on several popular projects, including James Gunn's The Suicide Squad spinoff series Peacemaker, the tide of public opinion is turning against them. They'll need a string of hits released in a regular pattern in order to re-right themselves and even begin to think about properly competing with the continued market domination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Source: THR