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Credit: Warner Bros.As allegations against Ezra Miller continue, and their whereabouts remain unknown, DC has decided to pull director Andy Muschietti’s “The Flash” project, seemingly over its insensitive nature.
The DC Extended Universe has had a troubled past. From its underwhelming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) movie featuring Ben Affleck (Bruce Banner/Batman) and Henry Cavill (Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman) to the widely-panned hero crossover of Joss Whedon’s Justice League (2017), which essentially became erased with Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) last year, the DCEU pales in comparison to other franchises such as Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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It wasn’t all terrible in terms of DC films, though. Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017) skyrocketed leading actress Gal Gadot to superstardom while Jason Momoa’s Aquaman (2018) became the first DCEU movie to cross $1 billion worldwide. The former’s sequel, however, was criticized while the latter is marred by the ongoing Amber Heard and Johnny Depp controversy — the latest of which finds Heard allegedly removed from most of James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).
As for The Flash (2023), the troubled DC universe production of the solo Barry Allen movie has reached its most controversial height. After a slew of erratic behavior in Hawaii which saw Ezra Miller involved in a karaoke bar bust-up as well as an arrest for second-degree assault for throwing a chair at a woman, the latest headlines about the actor are less than favorable.
A mother and her 12-year-old put out a temporary harassment behavior order against Miller for their alleged menacing and inappropriate behavior towards the child. In another incident, they have also been issued North Dakota tribal summons, but the courts could not locate the actor to serve the notice. This came in the wake of the parents of 18-year-old Tokata Iron Eyes filing paperwork asking a judge to issue an order of protection against the actor; they alleged Miller has groomed and brainwashed Iron Eyes, encouraging erratic behavior and introducing them to drugs and alcohol.
Following the press and public furor, Miller took to Instagram posting quotes and graphics to their story, mocking the authority’s search for them before deleting Instagram entirely.
Now, DC Comics has pulled another one of its Flash projects — director Andy Muschietti’s comic book alternate cover of “The Flash: Fastest Man Alive”. The three-issue book was slated to act as a prequel to the forthcoming DCEU movie and modeled the comic version of Barry Allen after Miller. A gifted artist as well as a film director, Muschietti designed two variant covers for the first issue; now-insensitive in light of recent events. The listing has now been pulled from multiple outlets.
The cover is below:
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The Flash is slated for a June 23, 2023, release date and at this time DC is set to feature Ezra Miller (Barry Allen/Flash), Ron Livingston (Henry Allen), Kiersey Clemons (Iris West), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Antje Traue (Faora-Ul), Sasha Calle (Supergirl), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne/Batman), and Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne/Batman).
At this time it is not clear what Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will do about Miller’s future in the DCEU — they will reportedly not return post-The Flash movie — or in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff, the Fantastic Beasts franchise, where the actor stars as Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore. The latter, however, hit an all-time low for the Wizarding World franchise, meaning it may not be Miller’s actions alone that write off the series.
It may be that Warner Bros. has to bring in The CW’s Grant Gustin who plays Barry Allen in The Flash television series.
When — if — The Flash reaches theaters, it is set for a home-streaming release 45 days later on HBO Max.
Do you think the comic book cover should have been pulled? Let us know in the comments down below!