The strangeness of the DCEU continues. After a failed attempt to emulate Marvel’s cinematic universe, and set to be onto their second Batman already, there’s now another interesting twist in the tale. Reportedly, The Flash star Ezra Miller and Game Night filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are clashing over the standalone Flash movie.
Despite Miller being the standout of the otherwise disappointing Justice League, The Flash movie hasn’t started filming yet. This is reportedly because Daley and Goldstein, also co-writers of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Horrible Bosses, have a more light-hearted approach to the material, while Miller wants a darker take.
The filmmakers are looking to follow the recent success of Aquaman and the early positive reviews of Shazam!, and move away from the broodier look that Zack Snyder developed early in the DCEU. However Miller sees it differently, and is now in fact writing the script himself, per THR.
He’s teamed up with Grant Morrison, acclaimed comic book writer, to pen a new Flash screenplay to show what his take would look like. This isn’t Miller going rogue either, as Warner Bros. have agreed and officially hired the duo.
Interestingly, there could be a lot riding on the script. Miller’s holding deal to play The Flash expires in May, and if he and Morrison pour their hearts into this script only for Warner Bros., Daley, and Goldstein to still disagree on the direction, it’s possible Miller could be out as the character.
As mentioned, the post-Justice League DCEU is looking a lot different. Ben Affleck is out as Batman, and Will Smith will not be returning for The Suicide Squad. While some characters such as Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman look to have a long shelf life, it’s not as if Miller is irreplaceable as The Flash. It’s conceivable there’s a new Barry Allen if the two sides don’t share a vision for the film.
This is just the latest speedbump for the standalone Flash movie. It originally had a treatment written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, before they left to (temporarily) direct Solo: A Star Wars Story. Seth Grahame-Smith was then hired to direct, but removed from the project in the wake of Batman v Superman‘s disappointing box office return.
Dope director Rick Famuyiwa was then hired for a film that would reportedly team up The Flash with Cyborg, before he left due to creative differences. And on top of all of that, production has been repeatedly pushed back to accommodate Miller’s shooting schedule for the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
He’s now due to shoot the third film later in the autumn and winter of this year, meaning he won’t be able to shoot The Flash – if he’s still on board – until 2020. So yeah, it has been a struggle.
So for now, we just wait and see whether Miller and Morrison’s script is given the a-ok by Daley and Goldstein, and also Warner Bros. If it is, then Barry Allen lives and we can start looking forward to finally seeing Miller in a standalone Flash movie. If not, Barry Allen could have a new face by June. Stay tuned.
#Peace.Love.TheFlash
