The superhero genre has been dominating the film world for over a decade, and some projects have been a very long time coming. Case in point: the upcoming DC movie The Flash, which sat in development hell for years before Andy Muschietti actually began production. A number of incarnations of the project were tossed around, including a draft written by Chris Miller and Phil Lord. And the latter filmmaker recently revealed major changes in his story for The Flash.
The Flash had a long journey to theaters, with a number of directors taking on the job and dropping out. The project also went through writers, including filmmakers Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who won an Oscar for their work on Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Lord recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how his version of Ezra Miller’s DC blockbuster differed from the movie that’ll be hitting theaters shortly. In his words:
It did involve time travel, but it was not a multiversal story. So I think it is safe to say that this is its own unique thing. There are definitely some things that were in the trailers that I've seen that were were similar to things that are in our treatment, but I'm certain that, from what I know now of the story, it seems quite different from what we had.
Talk about a pivot. Part of why audiences are eagerly anticipating the release of The Flash is because it’s going to be a multiversal story that’ll include ties to Man of Steel and multiple versions of Batman played by Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton. But that wasn’t going to be part of the story when Miller and Lord submitted their draft.
Phil Lord’s comments show how much things change when movies are in development– even major productions like The Flash. And while there might be some similarities between their version of the movie and the finished product that’s hitting theaters, the core of the story is different. Namely because there’s a big difference between time travel and breaking open the DC multiverse. Later in that same interview, Lord joked about what their version of the script included, saying:
A lot of our treatment was about how much food he had to consume.
Honestly, that sounds pretty funny. Of course, it’s possible that a scene about Barry Allen’s caloric intake could be in the DC flick. After all, Phil Lord hadn’t actually seen the movie yet. But plenty of other notable celebs have, with even Stephen King singing The Flash’s praises. And funny enough it’ll be competing with Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse at the box office.
Director: Andy Muschietti
Writer: Christina Hodson
Cast: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Kiersey Clemons
Release Date/Platform: June 16th in theaters.
After hearing Phil Lord’s comments, I’m even more curious about what his version of Andy Muschetti’s upcoming blockbuster would have looked like. Without the multiverse in play The Flash cast presumably would have been quite different. This would likely rule out both Supergirl and Michael Keaton’s Batman, as well as Michael Shannon’s return as Zod. And smart money says that Ezra Miller would have played only one version of Barry Allen.
The early reception for The Flash has been super positive, and it should be interesting to see what moviegoing audiences think about the blockbuster. There are also countless questions about how it might tie into the new version of the DCU that James Gunn and Peter Safran are crafting. Will it mark Ezra Miller’s final bow as the Scarlet Speedster? Only time will tell.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now, and The Flash will follow suit on June 16th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
