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Credit: Warner Bros.It has come out that DC Studios and director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash movie has been hidden from fans amid the Ezra Miller fallout.
The Flash (2023) is the next installment in the DC Extended Universe. The dying franchise will soon be rebooted under the new name of the DC Universe, the DCU, and is spearheaded by Marvel Studios darling James Gunn who co-CEOs alongside long-time DC producer Peter Safran.
After The Flash, Blue Beetle (2023), and this December’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), the DCEU will officially be no more as Gunn and Safran reinvent the turbulently troubled franchise for David Zaslav’s Warner Bros. Discovery. The first chapter — Chapter 1, “Gods and Monsters” — will apparently be pseudo-launched by The Flash movie, as Gunn confirmed back in January it will “reset” everything.
Starring Ezra Miller, who appeared in Justice League (2017), as the eponymous superhero, Barry Allen, AKA The Flash, Muschietti’s DC film also stars Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El, AKA Supergirl, and will see the reprisal of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck’s Gotham dark knight, Bruce Wayne/Batman, as well as Michael Shannon’s General Zod.
While it is Miller’s character’s name on the billboard, DC Studios has been clearly promoting The Flash movie as a joint effort, an ensemble cast in light of Miller’s illegal and erratic behavior in recent years. Miller, who also stars in Warner Bros.’ other big-budget franchise, Fantastic Beasts, as Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore, has been the center of numerous concerning news and investigations.
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From a video of them choking a woman to a physically violent escapade in Hawaii and the grooming and “kidnapping” of Tokata Iron Eyes, Miller’s erratic activities caused Warner Bros. to analyze its options concerning The Flash‘s release — one of them being the scrapping of the project altogether. This would have been a big blow for WB, considering The Flash movie’s budget is circa $200 million, and the fact Zaslav binned multiple projects last summer, including the almost completely Batgirl starring Keaton.
Amid the turmoil, Miller stated they were dealing with their problems and seeking treatment for the issues which led to such confusing and erratic behavior over the last few years.
So, with that, Warners Bros. Discovery and DC Studios are going hard on its promotion of The Flash — even if that promotion sees Miller’s leading character somewhat relegated to the backseat in favor of others like Supergirl and Batman.
And despite Miller’s troubled past, the hype for The Flash is relatively high thanks to Gunn’s claim it is one of the “greatest” superhero movies ever made, and early showings out of CinemaCon saw fans declare the DC Comics film a triumph. But, all is not as it seems.
Per a recent scoop via Comic Book Movie, the Hot Mic’s John Rocha has stated that no one has yet seen the full movie and that the version of the film that has been shown thus far is a cut of the final product.
Related: Felon and Kidnapper Ezra Miller Breaks Internet After Deeply Unsettling Franchise Announcement
The hiding of Ezra Miller’s The Flash is interesting because it could mean that a major in-universe event is being kept from fans to protect the secrecy of it prior to wide release. It could also signal a big change for the franchise in terms of its actors. With Miller being a controversial presence in the DC movie series, The Flash‘s missing minutes could also be the exit for this current iteration of Barry Allen — or it could be The Flash‘s Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) moment and see The CW’s Grant Gustin make a shocking big screen appearance.
Whatever the hidden minutes are, it is enough for DC to warrant a complete shutdown of the footage from all early screenings.
The Flash movie will race into movie theaters on June 16, 2023.
What do you think of DC and Warner Bros. hiding footage from Ezra Miller’s The Flash? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!