In just a few months, Warner Bros. will kick off itsDC ComicsExtended UniverseBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This epic adventure has been rumored to introduceAquaman(Jason Momoa),The Flash(Ezra Miller) andCyborg(Ray Fisher), who will form theJustice Leaguewith Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill) andWonder Woman(Gal Gadot). Each of these characters will get their own stand alone movie, but there are some fans who have taken issue withThe Flash’s casting, since Warner Bros. didn’t castGrant Gustinwho plays Barry Allen on The CW’sThe Flash.
Warner Bros. has long said that theDC Comicsuniverse that exists on TV, in shows like The CW’sArrow,The Flash,DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Fox’sGothamand CBS’Supergirl, is separate from the universe it’s building on the big screen. Still, some die-hard fans of The CW’sThe Flasharen’t too pleased with Ezra Miller playingBarry Alleninstead of Grant Gustin, which lead the actor to make a statement on his Twitter page last night. Here’s what the actor had to say, revealing that he fully supports the casting of Ezra Miller, asking fans to stop bashing the actor. Here’s part of his statement below.
“I fully support Ezra Miller as Barry Allen andThe Flashon the feature side of DC. I’ve never met the guy, but I think he is a fantastic and interesting actor. Would I have liked to play Barry Allen in a film? Sure. I love this character and it has changed my life and making movies and tv is something I hope to be fortunate enough to do for the rest of my life. I ‘liked’ some tweets from fans that expressed their support of me and said they would’ve enjoyed seeing me in the movie. Nothing of anyone ‘bashing’ Ezra. I don’t condone that type of behavior (especially on the Internet) and I definitely don’t partake.”
Warner Bros.' approach is quite different to Marvel’s, where shows likeMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,Marvel’s Agent CarterandMarvel’s Daredevilare fully entrenched in theMarvel Cinematic Universe. However, there aren’t different versions of key characters in both the MCU movies and TV shows, so it would be understandably difficult to pull a star like Grant Gustin from a hit TV show to film a big-budget movie, even if it is done on his hiatus. Still, given the popularity ofThe Flashseries, there will always be a group of fans who want to see him play the scarlet speedster on the big screen, even though we know that won’t happen.
There is very little we know aboutThe Flashmovie, except that Ezra Miller will star andSeth Grahame-Smithsigned on last fall towrite and direct. The filmmaker replacedPhil LordandChris Miller, who were set to write and direct back in April, but they eventually dropped out to make Disney’s highly-anticipatedStar Wars Anthology: Han Solo. Take a look at Grant Gustin’s statement below, and chime in with your thoughts. You can also check out a segment of The CW specialDC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice Leaguewhich focuses onThe Flash.
