The Flash (2022)

[thecolorsblend]

Just when you think the Ezra stuff couldn't get any worse.....

At this point, I'm just waiting for news to break that Miller was (somehow) the second gunman on the grassy knoll. The situation can't get much worse anymore.

Imagine being Miller's publicist. Now there's somebody who probably deserves combat pay.

[Silver Nemesis]

I've been thinking about this. Maybe my own biases are coming out here. But between Miller acting like a wackaloon and, y'know, some of the story developments all but confirmed to be happening in The Flash, at this point I think that the best bet may be just taking the L and dropping the movie onto HBO Max with minimal fanfare.

I just can't envision this movie doing well at the box office. Assaulting women, allegedly grooming young girls, I mean there's no way of washing the stink off the movie anymore.

That sounds like the most plausible scenario at this point. Cut their losses and just get it out there. It's a shame that this film is so important to the upcoming slate of DC movies. It's the one building block they can't remove without toppling the entire structure.

I suppose it might be possible to lessen (but not outright eradicate) the damage with some careful editing and a shift in marketing strategy. At the very least, they should reduce Miller's screen time as much as possible and shift the focus of the marketing onto Keaton's Batman. Tell the cast not to talk about Miller in interviews and quietly release the film on HBO Max. Maybe re-title it Flashpoint, Justice League: Flashpoint or even Batman: Flashpoint.

When you look back over the troubled history of the Flash movie's development, the numerous writers and directors who've quit the project, the exclusion of Ray Fisher's Cyborg, and now this controversy with Miller, it really does feel as though the entire project has been cursed since day one. The inevitable post-mortem analysis from Midnight's Edge should be amusing, but it's a pity Keaton's big return to the franchise after thirty years had to take the form of this particular film.

[The Laughing Fish]

A month ago, it was claimed that Miller was involved in a music side project, but it fell apart and his associates accused him of posting their music on social media without their permission. They claimed that they have experienced his volatile behaviour because of a disagreement over a song. One of these people knew Ezra since they were teenagers, and says he isn't the same person he once knew and needs serious help.

If these guys are telling the truth then the song that they had an argument with Ezra over is quite telling:

At that meetup, [Oliver] Ignatius says things took a dark turn after he introduced a song he wrote about a female friend who was murdered by her husband. The track, he says, was an "attempt to examine patriarchal violence with grace" but upon listening to it, Miller reacted with an "aggressive temper tantrum."

"They were completely triggered by the song which totally freaked me out because basic feminism is a really hard line. If we don't agree that violence by a man against a woman isn't something worth speaking on, then we don't agree on much," Ignatius says. "Ezra's behavior throughout this exchange was atrocious, belligerent, threatening, and incredibly aggressive."

That night, Ignatius says he "politely quit" the project on moral grounds. And overnight, Miller leaked the unfinished raw music in its entirety, including songs the actor wasn't even a part of. Miller posted a link to a SoundCloud playlist with the songs in their Instagram bio under the pseudonym, "Negative Ghost Rider."

"What Ezra did was commit an ... extremely unethical and hurtful act," he says. "They stole from artists that have fewer resources than them but maybe have art that Ezra wants... The person I thought I knew was a much gentler soul than the person that we're seeing right now. It's been a very concerning journey." (A lawyer for Miller did not reply to a request for comment.)

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ezra-miller-leak-music-1352982/

I've been thinking about this. Maybe my own biases are coming out here. But between Miller acting like a wackaloon and, y'know, some of the story developments all but confirmed to be happening in The Flash, at this point I think that the best bet may be just taking the L and dropping the movie onto HBO Max with minimal fanfare.

I just can't envision this movie doing well at the box office. Assaulting women, allegedly grooming young girls, I mean there's no way of washing the stink off the movie anymore.

I hope these grooming allegations are false. The physical attacks and death threats are already bad enough. If it's true that Miller is a predator, then he certainly needs to be locked up. Otherwise, he needs to undergo serious rehab and forget about acting indefinitely.

I've seen people saying this movie should be scrapped altogether, but I don't think that's possible. Whether we like it or not, too much time and money have been invested in producing this movie. Scrapping it doesn't just affect Miller, it would also affect Keaton and Sasha Calle because their deals are tied to this movie. So in that case, your suggestion it should go to streaming is the only logical bet.

Going forward however, WBD may have very different plans for DC as a franchise compared to whatever the hell the previous Emmerich regime were doing. At the moment, they have no choice but to inherit and release films that were produced before the merger was finalised, but don't be surprised if we see cancellations of projects that were greenlit by the old regime. For example, it was reported that DC Films and Hamada wanted to produce a Wonder Twins movie adaptation for HBO Max, but WBD canned the idea, and they allegedly were put off by the project's estimated budget was going to cost $75 million. Another example is there are rumours that the JJ Abrams Superman project might be in jeopardy because the film still hasn't progressed beyond the draft stage and WBD are frustrated that Abrams has produced little to nothing in the middle of his lucrative five-year contract.

I do wonder if WBD would've green light Flash, Batgirl, or even Black Adam if the merger happened a few years ago, and I do wonder if they would've approved Keaton's return. Because if the rumours of replacing Hamada with their own Kevin Feige-type guru and maintaining a more cohesive shared universe are true then that goes against the idea of Emmerich/Hamada agenda of allowing directors and stars to have complete control of their own self-contained universes, e.g. the Rock promoting his own Black Adam Universe and his movie introducing the JSA.

[The Dark Knight]

I suppose it might be possible to lessen (but not outright eradicate) the damage with some careful editing and a shift in marketing strategy. At the very least, they should reduce Miller's screen time as much as possible and shift the focus of the marketing onto Keaton's Batman. Tell the cast not to talk about Miller in interviews and quietly release the film on HBO Max. Maybe re-title it Flashpoint, Justice League: Flashpoint or even Batman: Flashpoint.

When you look back over the troubled history of the Flash movie's development, the numerous writers and directors who've quit the project, the exclusion of Ray Fisher's Cyborg, and now this controversy with Miller, it really does feel as though the entire project has been cursed since day one. The inevitable post-mortem analysis from Midnight's Edge should be amusing, but it's a pity Keaton's big return to the franchise after thirty years had to take the form of this particular film.

I'm in two minds about this. Despite Ezra's conduct, part of me hopes tinkering doesn't happen because I'd still like to see the movie as it was intended. Otherwise we're still in a constant loop of changing the original intention of movies ala SS and JL, just for different reasons. They've got to get out of that habit. The Flash movie isn't cursed - it's the overall trajectory of the DCEU. It should have been completely abandoned once they made the decision to move away from pure Snyder continuity. He was the backbone of the arc, and without him everything else is meaningless.

[The Joker]

it's a pity Keaton's big return to the franchise after thirty years had to take the form of this particular film.

QFT.

With Ezra's reported shenanigans (I can easily believe the music side project story, especially after that video of Mr. "They" losing his ish over being called "sir" by a cop), and everything else surrounding this film, it's a very real possibility that this film will wind up with egg on it's face upon release (whenever the hell that ends up being). Which is just a shame. Some of us never thought Michael Keaton returning as Batman would be a realistic possibility, but it happened, and rather than to simply sit back as a fan in anticipation for a trailer featuring footage of our boy back in the cowl again, we are left remaining all-too-cognizant of a film that has a history of being glaringly troubled, and you would think, actually jinxed. 

So, yeah. It's very unbefitting.

[The Laughing Fish]

Miller was reportedly missing at the protective order hearing the other day, and shared an outrageous meme on Instagram saying "You can't touch me, because I'm in another universe". He then later deleted his entire account.

If that's not bad enough, we now have this:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/12-year-old-granted-order-of-protection-against-ezra-miller

Jesus Christ.

[thecolorsblend]

The way things are shaping up with this movie, I just can't imagine ever paying money to watch it.

[Travesty]

So, he's done, right?

Is there any way of coming back from this?

[The Dark Knight]

News media is really picking up the story now, which is going to amplify the damage. I question what anyone involved with BvS knew about Miller when he was first cast. Because if they knew things but thought them to be bogus or minimal, they've allowed this circus to drag out in the way it has. This is another level in terms of dumpster fires.

[The Laughing Fish]

I was watching this video talking about the Ezra Miller saga, and it shows a clip by one of Miller's friends calling the accusations bogus and says it's all defamatory.

If Miller is getting defamed, then he should be the one condemning these allegations and promising to press charges. Not have his friend doing the talking for him, and certainly not posting memes on Instagram. People are now taking that meme and the deletion of his account as a sign that he is on the run and taunting authorities. There are even concerns the 18 year old girl has gone missing with him because nobody seems to know where she is either.

Miller was already in trouble before these grooming allegations came to light, and his antics are doing him no favours.