The future of the DCU has been in flux for a few months now, and nothing has been more uncertain than Ezra Miller’s role in the franchise going forward. Set to reprise their role as Barry Allen in The Flash this year, Miller’s off screen actions have brought into question their potential reprisal of the role again beyond the DCU resetting movie. In among the many announcements made today about DC Studios upcoming slate, Peter Safran addressed Miller’s possible return as part of the new DCU. He said:
“Ezra is completely committed to their recovery. We’re fully supportive of that journey that they’re on right now. When the time is right, when they feel they are ready to have the discussion, we’ll all figure out what the best way forward is, but right now, they are completely focused on their recovery. In our conversations with them over the last couple of months, it feels like they’re making enormous progress.”
After many months of speculation over both Miller’s DC future and how The Flash could be the catalyst to reset the franchise, it has been confirmed by James Gunn that this year’s multiverse movie will act as a complete game changer in the DC Universe. Speaking on a video announcement, Gunn said of The Flash:
“A fantastic movie that I really love, that resets the entire DC Universe.”
The Flash Will Be The Big Reset of the DCU Everyone Believed it Would Be.
While the stories that follow in its wake may not be the ones they were originally planned to be, there has always been an overriding suspicion that The Flash would act as some kind of DCU reset. While that seemed to be leading to Michael Keaton’s Batman taking over from Ben Affleck as the main franchise’s Dark Knight, the path ahead is somewhat different, with an entirely new Batman coming to the franchise, and Keaton being mostly side-lined for now.
Of course, Gunn and Safran are taking things back to basics. This is the DCU’s Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and Captain America – the starting block for something bigger to come, and the way the franchise should have been handled the first time around instead of rushing headlong into a Justice League movie. The ten movies announced so far have brought something new to the franchise in many ways, and avoids the potential rehashing Zack Snyder’s universe by delving into the more obscure characters of DC Comics. Mix in the willingness for Warner Bros. and DC Studios to take some of the movies down a more mature route – something that Disney and Marvel Studios have until recently shied away from – then there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming slate of the DCU’s first Phase.
While there is a two year wait before we see any of these projects hit the big screen, this year still has plenty of DC action to offer, and knowing a little more about how it will all connect will perhaps spur audiences to give the DCU another chance before the big reset.
