Fans of superheroic movies are well aware that DC and Warner sometimes have a chaotic aura with their releases that they can’t quite get rid of. Faced with the monolithic, hyper-studied appearance of Disney and Marvel cinema, DC threads a chaotic and insane universe, which does not always fit together, and which gives rise to disasters like everything that surrounded the ‘Justice League’ movie or the recent ‘Black Adam’ and his failed presentation of the Justice Society. Now, ‘The Flash’ picks up the baton of that tradition.
The Ezra Miller problem. Without a doubt, the biggest obstacle the film has in getting into anything remotely resembling mainstream promotion is Ezra Miller, the film’s star. As is well known, Miller was missing for a while: since April 2020, Ezra Miller has been involved in a series of problematic behaviors, some as serious as an attempt to strangle a fan in a bar, a video on Instagram in which he threatened the Ku Klux Klan, karaoke riots, robberies and muggings in Hawaii. Things get murkier with accusations of child abuse and leadership of a sect.
Ezra Today. None of this has resulted in serious legal convictions, either because Miller has sometimes pleaded guilty to charges of harassment or trespassing, or because some complaints have resulted in fines or restraining orders. But although in August 2022 Miller had returned home and had undergone treatment, the actor’s previous statements did not stop coming out in which his complete lack of contact with reality was evident.
An unusual promotion. At that time, media such as ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ only gave as possible options for Warner to cancel the film, lock Miller in a metaphorical basement or let the actor appear in a very occasional and controlled way in previews and interviews. At the moment the film opens on June 16 and Miller has not seen his hair, although he is expected, without possibility, without junkets for the press of any kind and only to appear fleetingly in the poses, in the Los Angeles preview of June 12. It’s absolutely unheard of for a $200 million movie.
The remains are dumped in the trailers. There may be no Miller in promoting ‘The Flash,’ but that’s not to say DC is going to give up on the penultimate piece (there would still be the second ‘Aquaman’) before the James Gunn shakeup. The trailers have focused on all the non-Miller elements of the film (the appearance of Michael Keaton’s Batman, the importance of Ben Affleck, the Supergirl character), and Warner has invested considerable effort in promoting them, for example by making sure that they are well present in the NBA and NHL finals. They have forecasts for the first weekend of a box office of 75 million dollars.
The secret ingredient: the ending. Warner wants the ending of ‘The Flash’ to remain a top secret until the premiere, and that’s why it’s going to do so few previews (or that’s the official version). For example, in April you could see the film at CinemaCon and the projection was interrupted before the end. Even private screeners of the film at Warner’s offices have blurred elements in the image so they don’t leak. According to Variety, that ending has given more than a few headaches at Warner, and has been shot and tested numerous times, possibly to leave open the possibility of Miller being replaced.
The sequel, still up in the air. From what is rumored, there is a sequel to ‘The Flash’ written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (‘Aquaman) that Muschietti has already talked about, referring to it as being in a hypothetical future. Specifically, it was on the Discourse podcast, where she trusted one hundred percent in the reception that Miller’s interpretation would have and the possibility of her repeating the role.
The key: the multiverses. Marvel stumbled a few months ago with a similar situation in its superhero universe, although even more serious if possible, with the arrest of Jonathan Majors accused of assault. His participation was more or less planned for the second season of ‘Loki’ in the short term, but his overall role was going to be much more important, considering that one of the future Avengers movies was going to be subtitled ‘ The Kang Dynasty’. Solution? The multiverse allows you to rewrite stories, characters and destinies. We will have, for sure, a new Kang. And that could be the solution for a Flash as a bridge between this old DC with traces of Snyder and the future universe of James Gunn.
Header: Warner
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