With the big announcement today of DC Comics and Warner Bros. lining up their slate of superhero movies for the next several years, one of the big things revealed was the casting of Ezra Miller in THE FLASH movie, due to hit in 2018. The bigger question now is will Miller appear in the JUSTICE LEAGUE film before his solo movie outing (likely so). It’s interesting to see Ezra nab this role, as he’s an actor known primarily for playing dark and edgy characters. His more recent movies THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN are exceptional examples of just how good he can be, but it still seems like an unusual choice for either Barry Allen or Wally West – it’s unknown which version of Flash will be in the movies just yet. The DC Comics character is typically known as a somewhat cocky and joking sort, not dark and gloomy at all. Miller first made an impression at a young age on the series CALIFORNICATION, and had a recurring role on the show ROYAL PAINS. His film work has involved edgy roles, though considering his short time in the Hollywood industry, he’s more than proven himself a face to watch. Miller is also still young, just 22 as of this writing, which puts him at a good age to play a young superhero.
What’s most interesting about Ezra’s casting, and the other DC movies announced today, is it pretty much kills any speculation that the DC TV universe would cross over into the film universe. THE FLASH television series just premiered on The CW network to very positive reviews, featuring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, a young man gifted with speed powers after a lightning bolt hits him. The CW’s ARROW is also going strong into its third season, with Stephen Amell playing the title role and maintaining a passionate fan base. I’ve never understood why carrying TV versions of superheroes into the film world isn’t attempted. SMALLVILLE had a very successful run featuring Tom Welling as Clark Kent, and the series ended with the character becoming Superman. Wouldn’t this have been a perfect opportunity to have Welling become a new Superman on the big screen? And you could have carried the fan base from that series over to the box office, effectively doubling the audience interest for a reboot. But instead Warner Bros. cast Henry Cavill to reinvent the popular character, after the Brandon Routh attempt SUPERMAN RETURNS met with poor audience reaction. Oddly enough, Routh is now a regular on ARROW, and doing a great job. The easy argument is that the television universes might not mesh well with the film universe, or that there’s too many background elements and character in the TV shows that can’t effectively fit into a movie. Either way, it seems like a bit of a missed opportunity, at least in my opinion. And it’s also something Marvel has effectively succeeded with using their film characters in Marvel’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., at least a few times now.
THE FLASH movie won’t hit theater for a few more years, and it’s too early to know what THE FLASH television series will do in that time, but the real question is how will a TV Flash and a movie Flash existing simultaneously affect fans? How do you feel about the casting of Ezra Miller as the film version? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.