It might be Grant Gustin’s turn to enter the speed force.
After Ezra Miller’s Flash of Zack Snyder’s Justice League won an Oscar (kind of) just over a week ago, the DC franchise is fumbling to figure out what to do with the actor. Miller, who has starred as The Flash since 2016, was just arrested in Hawaii for disorderly content and harassment. According to a Rolling Stone report, Warner Bros. is scrambling to figure out what to do with Miller’s future in their films. Twitter has a suggestion: Cast Grant Gustin instead.
Gustin’s acting resume proves he’s fit for the part, after all. Apart from knocking Glee out of the park with a killer “Smooth Criminal” rendition, nearly all of his TV career has been dedicated to playing The Flash. He’s been playing The Flash for a year longer than Miller has, in fact.
“The best time to make Grant Gustin the DCEU Flash was years ago,” one user shared, “the 2nd best time is now.”
The longtime Flash actor began playing the comic book role in 2015 in Superhero Fight Club, a short TV film for The CW. Following that, Gustin starred in series like Vixen, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow. He’s also been starring as Barry Allen in a standalone The Flash series since 2014, and expects a ninth season next year.
Miller, on the other hand, has appeared in three films as The Flash. (Four, depending on how you characterize one of those films’ infamous “director’s cut.”)
Miller first donned the spandex in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and also starred in Suicide Squad and Justice League (plus the aforementioned Zack Snyder’s Justice League). The actor is set to have his very own standalone film in 2023, The Flash.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. delayed major titles on its slate, including pushing back The Flash from Nov. 4, 2022 to June. 23, 2023.
Now the studio is facing another tough call.
Last week, the actor was arrested for disorderly conduct in Hawaii at a karaoke bar, and later got hit with a restraining order from one of the couples they threatened. Since March 7, Miller has allegedly had 10 police calls made on them for a handful of smaller incidents while visiting Hawaii. Back in 2020, a disturbing video went viral in which Miller appeared to choke a fan on the street in Reykjavik.
On Wednesday, Rolling Stone reported that the studio had an emergency call to discuss Miller’s upcoming projects.
Considering all of this, DC fans—known to be avid social media users, especially after giving Zack Snyder two big wins in the fan categories at the Oscars—have the solution. “Cough grant gustin isn’t a literal psychopath cough cough,” another user shared. “should’ve been dceu flash from the start cough cough get him out of the tv show terrible writing cough cough.”
If No Way Home can toss together a multiverse worth of Spider-Men, so can the DC Extended Universe. Maybe it’s time to open up the speed force for a new guy—after all, Miller’s other franchise, Fantastic Beasts, already has a proven track record of recasting actors in major roles with little or no explanation.
