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The Newest Trailer For 'The Flash' Is Here

By Brian Richards | DC Movies | February 13, 2023 |

By Brian Richards | DC Movies | February 13, 2023 |


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After weeks of rumors and anticipation on social media, the first trailer for The Flash premiered online on Super Bowl Sunday. This isn’t the first marketing that we’ve received for the upcoming film, as the teaser poster was released via Twitter last week, and in 2021, there was a brief teaser shown at DC FanDome.

The Flash appears to be adapting the classic comic book storyline Flashpoint, written by Geoff Johns (yes, that Geoff Johns) and illustrated by Andy Kubert, in which the Scarlet Speedster uses his powers to travel back in time and prevent his mother, Nora, from being killed, only to change the entire universe into one where Bruce Wayne is killed instead of Thomas and Martha Wayne. This results in Thomas becoming Batman and Martha becoming The Joker; Wonder Woman and Aquaman are at war with one another, and Superman spends nearly his entire life in captivity. The film, however, is centered on Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) teaming up with another version of Barry from the Multiverse, as they meet Bruce Wayne/Batman (Michael Keaton) from director Tim Burton’s Batman films for his assistance in restoring the universe to what it was before, and they all end up crossing paths with Kara, a.k.a. Supergirl (Sasha Calle), whose cousin is Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman.

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As for how social media responded to the trailer for The Flash? Most people were pleasantly surprised with how much they liked it, how incredible the film looks so far, and how delighted they were at the sight of Michael Keaton as Batman (accompanied by the Batman theme composed by Danny Elfman). They were also just happy and amazed that The Flash looks like it will finally be opening in movie theaters after years of production delays and changes in who would be writing and directing the film. (Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, and the directing team of John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein were all originally intended to be in the director’s chair, with all of them leaving the film for various reasons, before It: Chapter 1 and It: Chapter 2 director Andy Muschietti finally took over as director, with Birds of Prey and Batgirl writer Christina Hodson writing the screenplay.)

James Gunn, co-CEO of DC Studios, and Sasha Calle both expressed their excitement over the trailer on Twitter, with Gunn insisting that The Flash is a film that’s definitely worth watching, and Calle sharing her joyous reaction to seeing her appearance as Supergirl.

Then there were others who made it very clear that they were unimpressed with what they saw, and that they would refuse to watch or support the film under any circumstances. The reasons for their refusal to watch or support The Flash?

1) Ray Fisher, who played Victor Stone, a.k.a. Cyborg, in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, was originally supposed to appear in The Flash. Not just for a brief cameo, but for a supporting role with plenty of screen time. (Fans even got to hear Victor’s name mentioned by Barry when Ezra Miller-as-The Flash actually meets Grant Gustin-as-The Flash during The CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover in 2020.) But when Fisher clashed with DC Films president Walter Hamada over his interference in the investigation of what happened on set during the reshoots of Justice League with Joss Whedon as director, Fisher made it clear that despite his desire to continue playing Cyborg, he would not appear in any other DCEU productions as long as Hamada refused to apologize for everything that he did, and as long as Hamada remained in charge as DC Films president. (The likelihood of Fisher returning to play Cyborg for any upcoming DC Studios projects on James Gunn and Peter Safran’s slate also seems highly unlikely, especially after Fisher recently lashed out at Gunn on Twitter.) Since then, many of Fisher’s supporters have used the #IStandWithRayFisher hashtag on Twitter to let the world know that they have his back, and they refuse to support a project made by a studio that cares more about profits than they do about stopping racism and harassment against their employees.

2-10) Ezra Miller.

Miller (who identifies as non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns) first appeared in a video that showed them getting into a physical altercation with a female fan last year in Iceland, and they were never under investigation by the police for that incident. The original video was deleted, but was still found and continues to circulate on the Internet. It was also pointed out that no police officers were called to this bar at any time regarding this altercation, which some viewed as playful roughhousing that was blown out of proportion, and others saw as Ezra being violent with a woman because they refused to control their temper. Since then, Miller has appeared in numerous headlines (most of which have been covered for Pajiba Love by our very own Mike Redmond) due to questionable behavior that has made a lot of people wonder again and again and again and again why Miller isn’t in jail, why Warner Bros. Discovery seems determined to remain in business with them, and why this feature film version of The Flash isn’t being played by Grant Gustin instead.

Depending on who you ask on social media, most of these headlines about Miller seem very much like a smear campaign against the actor that went into effect ever since Miller released a video on Instagram last year in which they threatened a branch of the Ku Klux Klan located in Beulaville, North Carolina, and made it crystal-clear that the only good Klansman is a dead Klansman. (There is no confirmation of this by any law enforcement agencies, but a couple of people who originally responded on Twitter to Miller’s video stated that it was actually in response to this incident. Whether Miller knows or is acquainted with any of the family members remains unknown.)

Fan sites such as @FlashFilmNews on Twitter (which states in its bio that it is not affiliated with Warner Bros.), and other online supporters of Ezra Miller, have also insisted that with each headline that is published about Miller, there is more to the stories than what’s being reported to the public, as evidenced by just a few of these tweets here.

You can obviously decide for yourselves whether the majority of this really is a smear campaign of misinformation against Miller, or if this is yet another example of an (allegedly, if only because I’d like to avoid Dustin getting sued for all of his Bitcoin, so let me add ‘allegedly’) abusive celebrity like Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, or Tory Lanez receiving plenty of support from fans on the Internet for their horrible behavior against women and children. I’m just counting down the days until Miller comes out of hiding for The Flash promo tour, and does an in-depth interview with a major publication like Vanity Fair, GQ, The New York Times, or the Los Angeles Times so they can explain themselves, and attempt to clear the air about everything we’ve read about them these last couple of years. (And also to help convince people that The Flash deserves their time and money, so they can make it into the box-office hit that Warner Bros. Discovery needs and wants it to be.)

The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Ron Livingston (replacing Billy Crudup, who originally played Henry Allen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman(!), Michael Shannon reprising his Man of Steel role as General Zod (!!), Sasha Calle, and Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, is scheduled to open in theaters June 16.