The first full-length trailer for DC and Warner Bros.’s upcoming film The Flash dropped during the 2023 Super Bowl. The first release date tossed around for this Flash flick was March 2018, so we’re getting the final product a cool five years and global pandemic later. You would think this would create a ton of pure hype. And there is. But accompanying that hype is a large dose of apprehension.
Because unfortunately, that gap in time was disadvantageous to DC. The film’s central star, Ezra Miller, has been plagued with scandals, beginning in 2020 and increasing to a seemingly never-ending drip in 2022. An incomplete list of this chaos includes (ahem): an arrest in Hawaii for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar, an arrest on charges of felony burglary, a temporary protection order issued by the family of a 12-year-old, and a viral video of them choking a woman.
There are been calls to recast Miller, although the film reportedly finished production in 2021. Still, even with just a cursory knowledge of Miller’s scandals and fans’ reactions to them, watching the trailer feels bizarre. Because apparently, the best way to ease fans’ nerves about having Miller continue as The Flash is to have two Ezra Millers?? Seemingly throughout most of the film??
As I hinted in the previous paragraph, I’m an outsider looking in here. I’m merely just around during the Super Bowl. In that capacity, watching this trailer was confounding to me. To me, Miller comes off with the charisma of a wet paper towel. They’re just barely holding it together. And there’s two of them? Oh no. Why did you keep them?
The other aspect of the trailer garnering attention from fans is that, when you’re not spending time with the two Ezras, the trailer tries very hard to divert your detention away from them. And they have a very easy way to do that: With the power of Batman! You might ask, “Are they diverting attention with two Batmans, too?!” Yes. Yes, they are.
Don’t get me wrong. One of these Batmen is the long-awaited revival of Michael Keaton’s iconic iteration. And that’s my original Batman, the Batman I grew to love as a kid. Seeing Keaton in that costume again made me smile. Which means it was the only time I spent watching that trailer where my jaw wasn’t slightly agape in pure confusion. It did very much feel like the trailer was saying, “HEY, LOOK OVER HERE! IT’S BATMAN! IT’S FREAKING MICHAEL KEATON! WE LOVE HIM, RIGHT?”
I mean, yes. But.
On that note, we also got the first look at Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. She looks so badass that even the Ezras were starstruck. More of that, please.
The Flash will release in theaters on June 16th. To what extent it will be marketed more like a Batman film instead remains to be seen.
(featured image: Warner Bros. / DC)
Correction 2/13/2023: Ezra Miller’s pronouns have been corrected.
