Actor Ezra Miller will appear in some of the biggest movies of the next few years. In just under a week, Miller will play Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut, but he also has responsibilities to another iconic character - one whom we have already seen him portray briefly this year: Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash.
Miller third appearance in the role - and his first substantial appearance - will come in next year's Justice League, following his cameos in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. Soon after that he will be getting ready to go to work on the speedster's solo film, The Flash. While the movie has had its production troubles, including losing its director, Miller remains excited as ever about the opportunity to give the Flash a proper solo film - and is making sure no research goes undone.
Collider recently caught up with The Flash star at Fantastic Beasts' New York junket, where Miller spoke about what went (and will) go into his portrayal of Barry Allen. When asked about what helped him define the Flash character going forward, Miller had this to say:
"Yeah, I mean, I’ve been investigating and composing the character since the moment I started to consider doing the screen test. Fortunately, a lot of that research is extremely fun and involves reading Flash Comics and other comics from the world of DC, The Brave and the Bold."
In response to surprise at how far back he went with his research, Miller added:
"Yeah, oh, I went all the way. I’m really interested in the early history and some of my favorite stuff has been the Silver Age. Even the Golden Age and the Jay Garrick stuff, the original Flash. It’s just so fascinating, so endlessly compelling. It’s such an incredible set-up for exploration, all these fascinating concepts in physics, in mysticism, in fantasy… I mean, he can really go anywhere. He’s that figure of the DC pantheon who transcends the realms, sort of like Hermes or Mercury before him in the respective Greek and Roman mythologies that the character’s (creator) Gardner Fox, clearly very much based."
The actor also spoke about Geoff Johns, who was recently handed creative duties over the DCEU, stating:
"Yes! He’s a good guy to have around. He keeps us full of information and he keeps us from making ignorant mistakes that would upset the fans across the world because you pretty much can’t get someone with a deeper knowledge of this universe than Geoff Johns."
Of course, the conversation inevitably turned to the revolving door of directors, and Miller even had to respond to whether they left because they couldn't handle "The Ezra." The actor certainly hoped this was not the case, explaining;
"Oh, God!! (laughs) No, you know, these processes are complicated, and I think it can, and I think from afar, it can appear to be–as you say–something interpersonal or dramatic. That is rarely the case. These are groups of people taking the development of projects extremely seriously, and the teams are changing all the time. There’s often a lot of flux in who the team of the production of a film is before that production starts, and in this case, you hear about it, because it’s a critical figure—the directors that have been coming on and leaving."
While Ezra Miller's casting as Barry Allen has received a mix of praise and criticism, it certainly should be encouraging to fans how seriously he is taking the role. With material going back half a century, Miller's research could lead to a layered and complex portrayal of the character unlike any we have seen to date. Clearly, Allen's appearances in Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad have done little to show us what type of Flash Miller will be - but we will find out for sure in a year when Justice League comes to theaters.
Source: Collider
