When Warner Bros. announced thatEzra Millerwould be playing the titular characterinThe Flashfeature film, the TV series iteration of the comic book character was just getting off the ground on the small screen withGrant Gustinfilling the role of Barry Allen. Little did we know, though, thatThe CW’sThe Flashwould build a substantial following alongside seriously positive critical buzz. The show is now in its second season, andThe Flashmoviejust hired a writer/director(Abraham Lincoln: Vampire HunterscribeSeth Grahame-Smith, making his feature directorial debut), but some fans of the TV show remain hopeful that the two Flashes can exists in the same world. After all, historicallyThe Flashdeals with multiverses, so it’spossible, if not exactly practical.
Warner Bros. is building its own inter-connected universe on the feature film side, and much as fans may clamor to bring the TV iteration of the character into that fold, they remain two wholly separate worlds. ProducerCharles Roven, who is part of the DC Cinematic Universe Brain Trust and is a producer onThe Flashmovie, recently confirmed this separation to Steve during an interview timed to the release of theWarcrafttrailer, which Roven also produced:
“Our Flash is gonna be not that guy. [Gustin is] terrific in doing [what he’s doing]. I think that whether it’sThe FlashorArrow, they’re doing a great job with the TV shows they’re doing.Gotham, that show’s really terrific. And we obviously wish them the best. It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens when we have a different Flash in a different universe. We’re gonna try to stay in our universe and they’re gonna be staying, I think, in their universe, and hopefully the audiences will embrace both. I think they can. You know,Supergirlis not in our universe, and that seems to be doing quite well.”
While I understand the desire of fans of the show to want to see that version of the character on the big screen, Roven andZack Snyderand the team at Warner Bros. have put a lot into crafting this inter-connected movie universe with its own tone and its own rules, so it just doesn’t make sense to try and blend the two, especially since the DC Cinematic Universe Brain Trust doesn’t have any involvement with the story and character decisions that are made on the small screen.
So what can we expect fromThe Flashmovie? We really don’t know yet, but Miller is expected to at least make a cameo inBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceso we may get our first inkling early next year.The Flashisn’t slated for release until March 2018 so it’ll be a while before we see Miller’s version get his own story, but Roven revealed that the film is now firmly hashing out its story:
“We are in the script stage. Early, early, early in the script stage.”
Folks may remember thatPhil LordandChris Millerwere courted todraw up a treatment and possibly directThe Flash, but they subsequently departed to direct the standaloneHan Solo moviefor Lucasfilm. It’s unclear if any of their story ideas will remain intact once the film is finished, but I’ll be mighty interested to see what Grahame-Smith puts together.
If you missed our previous coverage from Steve’s interview with Roven, peruse the links below.
