Ezra Miller Charged in Vermont, But how will ‘The Flash’ Fair?

For quite some time, Ezra Miller has been the center of attention, for all of the wrong reasons.  Facing many accusations and legal troubles, with many reports of troublesome behavior from around the world; with multiple arrests, charges, and allegations of assault and grooming. Now, Miller once again found themselves facing legal troubles, as the Vermont State Police have charged Miller with felony burglary.

It seems like almost everyday, new information comes out about Miller, information that only paints the actor and the companies that work with them in a worse light.  Among these companies, has been Warner Bros. Discovery.

To say the company finds itself in a difficult position thanks to Miller would be an understatement.  Given the major role the actor plays in The Flash, scheduled to release in 2023, the new management at the recently formed Warner Bros. Discovery finds themselves facing a difficult decision with what to do with this film, one which has reportedly faced many behind the scenes issues and has a budget the size of 2017’s Justice League behind it.

It’s because of this, as well as the cancellation of Batgirl, that many people believe The Flash will face the same fate of cancellation, although it would be a much harder hit for the company.  Compared to the upcoming tentpole film, Batgirl had a far smaller budget, and was set to only see release on HBO Max, rather than a theatrical release.  Combined with concerns of the film’s quality, Warner Bros. Discovery cancelled the film and made a tax write-off, minimizing their losses.

The decision was certainly a controversial move, especially given the film was essentially complete, (much like Zack Snyder’s Justice League, before it was heavily reworked into the inferior 2017 cut).  It’s only drawn even more ire from fans and audiences, as many took issue with the company cancelling the film that had little to no controversy prior to its cancellation, while The Flash lives on, and was even scheduled to have reshoots with Miller recently, in the midst of their legal troubles.  Notably, Kevin Smith would go on to state, ‘I don’t give a shit how bad the Batgirl movie is, nobody in that movie is complicated or has anything in their real life you have to market around.  In The Flash movie, we all know there’s a big problem!  Flash is the Reverse Flash in real life.”

Despite comments by new CEO David Zaslov stating confidence in the upcoming slate of DC Films, including The Flash, a piece by The Hollywood Reported stated that the company is now discussing three possible options for film following Miller’s trouble in Vermont.  First, Miller could seek therapy and Warner Bros. Discovery moves forward with the film’s release; two, The Flash is released as planned, but Miller would be recast moving forward; three, the film meets the same fate as Batgirl.  The only way this third film may happen, however, would only be if controversy continues to follow Miller, and the backlash becomes too great, that Warner Bros. Discovery is left with no choice but to shelve the film.

Credit to Warner Bros.

Financially, shelving The Flash wouldn’t save nearly as much money as Batgirl, and likely would result in heavy financial losses short term.  But given David Zaslov’s emphasis on looking at DC Films in the long run, it may actually be beneficial in the long run to lay this film to rest and recast Miller.  While Batgirl certainly faced some ire with fans, largely over the fact that this character would get a stand-alone film before Ben Affleck’s Batman, The Flash has seen ire from all sides of the DC fandom.  Prior to the escalation of controversies with Miller, fans of Snyder’s vision of the DC Universe were irritated when rumors and reports indicated that the movie would go out of it’s way to essentially retcon Snyder’s movies.  Likewise, DC fans in general were angered that it seemed like the film would replace Henry Cavill’s Superman and kill off Ben Affleck’s Batman, replacing them both with Sasha Calle’s Supergirl and Michael Keaton’s Batman.  Now, with Miller’s controversies and involvement in the film, practically everyone is against The Flash seeing the light of day.

For now, The Flash is still set to release in June 2023, but should Miller continue their troublesome behavior, and fan outcry continues to grow, it may find itself joining Batgirl in the film graveyard that Warner Bros. Discovery has been making.

For more information on Ezra Miller’s various controversies, click here.

For more information on Batgirl’s cancellation and DC Films current future, click here.