New DC Studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran appear to be standing firmly behind embattled ‘The Flash’ star Ezra Miller, who they claim is ‘committed to their recovery.’
While sharing the upcoming slate for the ‘new DC,’ Gunn described the upcoming $200 million movie starring the non-binary actor as ‘probably one of the greatest superhero movies of all time,’ leading many to wonder if Miller will return.
The actor, who recently pleaded guilty to trespassing in Vermont, was arrested multiple times in Hawaii in 2022 and has been accused of assault and grooming.
In August Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, announced they were seeking treatment for ‘complex mental health issues.’
There is still potential that troubled ‘The Flash’ star Ezra Miller returns to the DC Universe even after his run ins with the law over the years
New DC Studios bosses James Gunn (left) and Peter Safran (right) said they are supporting Miller in their recovery at this time
It’s still possible that Ezra Miller (featured above) could return to the DC Universe
The DC slate dubbed ‘Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters’ will officially begin on July 11, 2025 with ‘Superman Legacy’ after the universe is ‘reset’ by ‘The Flash.’
The studio heads, who took over DC in October, remained mostly tight-lipped about Miller’s future with the studio overall but applauded the actor for their focus on their mental health.
Gunn did however state there is ‘nothing that prohibits’ any previously cast actors from reprising their roles in the new universe, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Safran said that after the series of criminal incidents Miller has been involved in, they are still just focused on the actor’s recovery.
‘Ezra is completely committed to their recovery. We are fully supportive of that journey they are on right now,’ Safran said.
Gunn described the unreleased ‘The Flash’ film as ‘probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made’
Ezra Miller in a mugshot taken after one of several incidents in Hawaii
The film is slated to release on June 16, 2023
Miller featured in another mugshot from Hawaii
Over the past several years, Miller has faced both public and legal scrutiny
Over the past several years, Miller has faced both public and legal scrutiny.
The actor has been accused of choking a woman in Iceland, grooming children, and has been arrested multiple times for assault and burglary.
It was also reported in June 2022 the actor was housing a mother and her three children on a cannabis farm in Vermont, an issue which was raised by the kids’ dad.
Despite the long list of incidents, the DC heads say they aren’t ruling out a return for the troubled actor.
They say decisions will officially be announced at some point but not now.
‘When the time is right, when they are ready to have that discussion, we will all figure out what the best path forward,’ Safran said.
‘But right now, they are completely focused on their recovery. And in our conversation with them, in the last couple of months, it feels like they are making enormous progress,’ he continued.
The studio has high hopes riding on the $200 million film which is slated to release on June
Miller, should they be out of a job, would be one of many to have been axed thanks to the newly rebooted.
Scary: A video surfaced on Twitter of Miller appearing to choke a woman at a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland, in April 2020 – but did not appear to result in any charges
In December, Gunn and Safran cleaned house, axing Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Black Adam, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Henry Cavill as Superman.
The news of the reset came as a shock to both the world and the actors.
Johnson’s ‘Black Adam’ film, which he said took 10 years to make, came out mere weeks before Gunn and Safran took over and less than three months before the heads announced they would be resetting the timeline.
It was especially shocking to Cavill, who had made a post-credit appearance as Superman in ‘Black Adam’ and announced his official return to DC, even leaving his popular Netflix show ‘The Witcher’ to focus on the superhero world.
Just weeks after that he and DC announced they would be parting ways, sending shockwaves through the comic book and superhero movie genre communities.
Gunn (left) and Safran (right) are working to create a cohesive comic book universe
‘We didn’t fire Henry. Henry was never cast,’ said Gunn during a presentation to reporters announcing plans for five new DCU films and five new TV series.
Gunn at the time also defended he and Safran’s decisions in social media posts, saying the pair had a slate ‘ready to go’ and it did not include Cavill’s iteration of the iconic character.
‘Among those on the slate is Superman. In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill,’ the studio head and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ writer said.
‘But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future,’ Gunn wrote.
‘We didn’t fire Henry. Henry was never cast,’ said DC Studios boss James Gunn of the decision not to bring back Henry Cavill as Superman in their DCU reboot
Some of the exciting things Gunn teased last month were announced to the public Tuesday after a media preview day.
The upcoming slate which covers 10 years includes the Superman film written by Gunn, a Batman movie that won’t star Robert Pattinson, a Batman film that does star Robert Pattinson, and several other anticipated projects.
In all, Gunn and Safran laid out plans for five new films and five new TV series.
Safran and Gunn said their major goal is to create a cohesive universe. While the pair did not mention their main competitor, Marvel, it’s believed they are striving to follow in the footsteps of the entertainment giant.
It comes amid years of low-rated and poor performing movies, along with shows across platforms including HBO Max and the CW.
Last year, Warner Bros axed its $90 million Batgirl movie, starring Leslie Grace, with Gunn and Safran calling the decision ‘bold’ because it was ‘not releasable’.
‘It would not have been able to compete in the theatrical marketplace, it was built for the small screen,’ Safran told Variety.
Last year, Warner Bros axed its $190 million Batgirl movi , starring Leslie Grace, with Gunn and Safran calling the decision ‘bold’ because it was ‘not releasable’
An uncast in-universe Batman film is also coming at an unknown date: The Brave and the Bold, a Batman and Robin tale focused on Batman’s son with supervillain Talia al-Ghul as Robin
Live-action shows for HBO Max include Waller starring Viola Davis (left) returning as Suicide Squad mastermind Amanda Waller (right, from the comic books)
Television plans include Lanterns, an eight-hour live action detective series featuring multiple Green Lanterns, scheduled to stream on HBO Max
‘The history of DC is pretty messed up,’ said Gunn. ‘We’re going to promise that everything from our first project forward is going to be unified,’ he added.
The first chapter of the new DCU, dubbed ‘Gods and Monsters,’ uses some of the DC Universe’s best-known super heroes to introduce audiences to a new generation of characters. Gunn said he worked with a team of five writers to sketch out one connected story.
Gunn and Safran’s DCU slate will launch with Superman: Legacy on July 11, 2025, which Gunn is writing, and is described as about Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.
No casting has yet been announced, though Henry Cavill has departed the role despite a recent cameo in 2022’s Black Adam – a sequel to which also isn’t part of Gunn and Safran’s plans despite Dwayne Johnson’s impassioned lobbying.
Gunn insisted that Cavill ‘was never cast’ in the film.
‘For me, it’s about, Who do I want to cast as Superman, and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast? And for me, for this story, it isn’t Henry,’ he told The Hollywood Reporter.
‘I like Henry, I think he’s a great guy. I think he’s getting d****d around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons.’
An uncast in-universe Batman film is also coming at an unknown date: The Brave and the Bold, a Batman and Robin tale inspired by Grant Morrison’s comic series, focused on Batman’s son with supervillain Talia al-Ghul as Robin.
Another planned film is The Authority, about an ensemble of superheroes with extreme methods.
Also coming is Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, based on Tom King’s comics, and a big-screen standalone for the Swamp Thing.
Television plans include Lanterns, an eight-hour detective series, scheduled to stream on HBO Max.
Other TV projects include Waller, with Viola Davis reprising her Suicide Squad role as Amanda Waller, and Paradise Lost, the origin story of Themyscira, the island where Wonder Woman was born.
The DCU reboot also includes an animated television series, Creature Commandos, in which Waller, also voiced by Davis, forms a black ops team out of monstrous prisoners, is in production.
A dark ‘Joker’ film became an Oscar nominee and billion-dollar hit, but ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Justice League’ struggled to generate superhero-sized returns.
Four DC film projects that were completed before Gunn and Safran took over the studio will be released to theaters this year: Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Zaslav cut some costs by scrapping plans for a third Wonder Woman film and a $190 million Batgirl movie that was headed to streaming. The movie division also has cut jobs in marketing and distribution.
Safran said the film had ‘a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera’ but it was ‘not releasable’.
‘I actually think that Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved,’ he told Variety.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk