Warner Bros. has an Ezra Miller problem. The actor has finished filming the long-awaited ‘The Flash’ film, which was directed by Andy Muschietti (It) and features both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck reprising their roles as Batman. Sporting a hefty $200 million budget, The Flash was set for a theatrical release and was meant to re-launch a DCEU interconnected universe. But those plans are in jeopardy thanks to Miller’s increasingly erratic behavior and allegations of kidnapping and grooming minors.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has yet to make any decisions regarding the release of The Flash and Miller’s own implosion. The studio is still a year out from the film’s release date of June 23, 2023, and decisions need to be made. Rumor has it that WBD has dropped Miller from future DCEU films, but they still have to contend with The Flash. It’s highly unlikely that the studio will re-shoot the film with a new actor, given its already overblown budget.
WBD has options when it comes to the release of the film. They can pull back the publicity tour and quietly release it in theaters. They can also forgo the theatrical release altogether and dump the film onto HBO Max. Or they can go full steam ahead and promote the film with everyone but Miller. According to Deadline, a studio source said, “There is no winning in this for Warner Bros, … This is an inherited problem for Zaslav. The hope is that the scandal will remain at a low level before the movie is released, and hope for the best to turn out.”
Miller first joined the DCEU in2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and later appeared in 2017’s critically panned Justice League and 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League. They’re also a part of WBD’s other massive franchise, Fantastic Beasts, as Credence Barebone. The studio has previously replaced actor Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The film, the third in a planned series of five films, has not yet announced plans for Miller’s future with the franchise.
In the meantime, fans are already throwing out ideas for Miller’s replacement:
(via Deadline, featured image: Warner Bros.)
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
