Written By Kieran Bugg and Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Ezra Miller could have the DCEU’s breakthrough hit in The Flash. Despite all his legal issues and troubling behavior, Ezra Miller might end up becoming the true hero of the DCEU. Unfortunately, it’s too late for that universe as DC Studios is performing a soft reboot on the franchise. Still, the film looks increasingly like a runaway smash for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods‘ recent failure to launch at the box office wasn’t an anomaly. In other words, it wasn’t a rare commercial misstep like Marvel Studios’ Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Rather, it was another in a series of financial letdowns.
To the bean counters in the previous Warner Bros. regime, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice didn’t meet expectations. Specifically, executives believed the movie would grab $1 billion worldwide as it paired two of the most famous superheroes in the world. Instead, it made $876.3 million globally. DC Studios would kill for those kind of numbers today. In fact, per Deadline the film actually returned a net profit of $105.7 million.
If Warner Bros. had simply released the longer, superior “Ultimate Edition” (available on HBO Max) it would’ve acquired better reviews from both critics and audiences.
Ezra Miller Could Have The DCEU’s Breakthrough Smash
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
And for every DCEU success such as Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, it left a trail of bombs like Joss Whedon’s Justice League, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The latter truly stung as the initial Shazam! performed adequately.
Of the remaining DCEU movies, Blue Beetle sparked some excitement on social media but remains a question mark. On the other hand, insiders have issued warnings about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The Flash, though, has received significant praise from preview screenings and numerous sources.
Still, Ezra Miller’s predicted success is bittersweet; it’s like winning the World Series but your team has been bought, the players will change uniforms, and another city will benefit from the sale.
The latest Flash footage provided us with new looks at Michael Keaton’s return as Batman and Sasha Calle’s debut as Supergirl. The hype train continues, and this time it looks well-deserved. Make no mistake, anticipation for this long awaited solo film is considerably higher than most upcoming 2023 theatrical releases.
Nonetheless, a dark cloud still lingers over The Flash after Ezra Miller’s multiple scandals these past couple years. In addition, the revelation that the picture will make way for James Gunn’s soft DC Universe reboot hasn’t helped.
If anything, what’s pushing The Flash at this point is its supporting cast more than Ezra Miller. Rising star Sasha Calle will make her first (and likely only) appearance as Supergirl. Ben Affleck will also suit up as Batman one last time (for the foreseeable future) during the film’s opening act.
From then out, Keaton will be the one donning the cape and cowl for the first time since 1992. Keaton’s return as Batman has been hyped up by Warner Bros. for a few years now. His and Calle’s brief screen time in the first official trailer were undeniably among the biggest highlights.
Keaton was even scheduled to portray Batman in many more DC movies following his appearance in The Flash. One being a solo Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace. However, these plans as well as the Batgirl movie have since been scrapped after the formation of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Ezra Miller Could Have The DCEU’s Breakthrough Smash
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Nevertheless, none of this hasn’t dampened the excitement for Keaton’s comeback. The Flash will have it’s world premiere on April 25th at CinemaCon. A second trailer for the movie will reportedly air just before the premiere.
A fraction of new footage we expect to see in this new trailer was shown during a recent WBD livestream. In the footage we see Supergirl destroying an oncoming missile with one punch. That’ll likely leave a lasting impression on fans. We also see Keaton’s Batman take flight after abandoning the Batwing, which looks to have taken significant damage. The short teaser ends with Batman in the Batcave without his mask, revealing the more aged crime fighter.
So far there’s been nothing but praise for The Flash from all those who’ve seen it in advance. Whether or not critics will feel the same way is an entirely different matter. In the end, it all comes down to how well The Flash performs at the box office.
Right now, Ezra Miller could be the last man standing from Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Henry Cavill and Affleck are gone with Gal Gadot probably next in line. If Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom sinks, Jason Momoa has Lobo awaiting him.
We keep hearing that if The Flash takes off with nearly a billion, Ezra Miller sticks around.
Will it cross the finish line or will it stumble before the flag has even had a chance to wave? With an insane budget of over $200 million, the movie needs to be colossal success for the studio. Otherwise, their already poor image will only be tainted further.