Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ tentpole summer release, “The Flash,” finally hits theaters this weekend, but the superhero movie had been beset by delays and off-screen controversies involving star Ezra Miller in the years before its release.
“The Flash” was initially revealed back in October 2014 as part of the inaugural DC Universe slate. It received a 2018 release date, alongside eventual releases like “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman,” “Aquaman” and “Shazam.” However, parts of that plan didn’t come to fruition. Standalone “Cyborg” and “Green Lantern” movies were scrapped, and a two-part “Justice League” movie by Zack Snyder became one film.
Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, first debuted as the Flash in a cameo in 2016’s “Batman v Superman” and “Suicide Squad,” before joining the cast of “Justice League” in 2017. Ahead of the solo “Flash” movie, their only other appearances as the hero were cameos in the CW series “Arrow” in 2020, the director’s cut of “Justice League” in 2021 and James Gunn’s “Peacemaker” show in 2022.
The original “Flash” release date didn’t stick, and neither did a director. In April 2015, Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”) were writing a story treatment with the possibility of directing, but then Seth Grahame-Smith (“The Lego Batman Movie,” “Beetlejuice 2”) came on to write and direct. In April 2016, Grahame-Smith exited, and Rick Famuyiwa (“The Mandalorian”) entered — only to leave in October. “The Flash” release date was pulled, and Joby Harold (“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”) rewrote the script. In January 2018, John Francis DaleyandJonathan Goldstein (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”) stepped in to write and direct, but left in July.
Finally, Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey,” “Bumblebee”) was confirmed as the writer with Andy Muschietti (“It,” “It Chapter 2”) as director in November 2019. After their hiring, “The Flash” got a July 2022 release date and was slated for pre-production in January 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the strain on the visual effects industry, it was first delayed to November 2022 and then, finally, got its June 2023 release date. Production began in April 2021 and wrapped in October.
Behind the scenes, though, Miller had troubles of their own. In April 2020, they were caught on video appearing to choke a woman at a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland. The woman told PvNew, “I think it’s just fun and games — but then it wasn’t. All of a sudden, [they’re] on top of me, choking me, still screaming in my face if I want to fight. My friend who’s filming sees [they’re] obviously not joking and it’s actually serious, so he stops filming, and pushes [them] off me as [they’re] still trying to fight me. Two guy friends of mine are actually holding [Miller] back as [they’re] screaming, ‘This is what you wanted! This is what you wanted!’”
Nearly a year later in March 2022, Miller resurfaced and was arrested in Hawaii for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar. They pleaded no contest to the charges and paid a $500 fine. A month later in April, Miller was arrested again in Hawaii, this time for second-degree assault for throwing a chair at a 26-year-old woman. A Hawaiian couple also filed a restraining order against Miller, but dropped it after two weeks.
In June 2022, Miller was accused by activist Chase Iron Eyes and his wife Sara Jumping Eagle of grooming and manipulating their child Tokata Iron Eyes. The allegations dated back to 2016 when Tokata was 12 and met Miller at Standing Rock Reservation North Dakota. Tokata later released a statement, downplaying the allegations and saying Miller provided “loving support and invaluable protection.” Another parent in Massachusetts made similar grooming allegations regarding their child and Miller. A woman also came forward to PvNew and alleged that Miller had harassed her in Germany in February 2022.
In August 2022, Miller was charged with felony burglary in Vermont for allegedly stealing several bottles of alcohol. That same month, Miller spoke out for the first time, saying in a statement, “Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment. I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
After Miller’s public apology, some of the Vermont charges were later dropped and they pleaded guilty to unlawful trespassing. They agreed to pay a $500 fine, go on one year of probation and seek mental health treatment in January 2023. The first trailer for “The Flash” debuted at the February 2023 Super Bowl, and James Gunn, who became co-CEO of DC Studios with Peter Safran, called the film one of “the greatest superhero” movies ever. The hype for the movie began to grow, despite Miller’s past legal troubles, and it debuted at CinemaCon in April 2023 for attendees.
The film’s promotional campaign kicked off, without Miller making many public appearances besides the June 2023 premiere. They thanked Gunn, Safran and Warner Bros. Discovery execs for “your grace and discernment and care in the context of my life. And in bringing this moment to fruition.”
So far, there aren’t any current plans to continue Flash’s story in Gunn and Safran’s rebooted DC Universe, but director Andy Muschietti said that Miller’s role would not be recast in a potential sequel: “I don’t think there’s anyone that can play that character as well as they did. The other depictions of the character are great, but this particular vision of the character, they just excelled in doing it.”
