How The Flash, after many years of development made it to the finish line.
Making “The Flash” and getting it into theatres were both hard experiences.It was shot during a pandemic.
During the 138-day shoot, there was no contact with friends or relatives. There were A-list schedules to work around for cameo appearances. There was a celebrity in Ezra Miller, who made news after the show ended for legal squabbles during a mental health crisis. Behind it all is a studio experiencing leadership changes and reconsidering DC Comics’ whole approach.
But first, they had to figure out how to get a two-ton Batmobile from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom in 2021, despite a global shipping container scarcity.
This was no ordinary Batmobile, to be sure. One of the originals from Tim Burton’s films was required for Michael Keaton’s caped crusader’s 30th anniversary comeback — a massive project that also included making a life-size recreation of the Batcave from scratch.
Director Andy Muschietti and his sister, producer Barbara Muschietti, awaited its arrival with bated breath, wondering if it would arrive on schedule or get trapped in the middle of the ocean. When it landed, they heaved a sigh of relief, rejoiced briefly, and moved on to the next problem: how to get it inside the Batcave at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studio.It was ultimately loaded into a specially customised airport cargo truck and lifted 20 feet (6 metres) into the air before being “gently rolled onto set.”
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Barbara Muschietti stated, “Everything came with a little adventure.”
It’s an accurate, if somewhat understated, description of releasing “The Flash” on June 16. Since the late 1980s, film adaptations of the lightning-fast comic book superhero have been in different states of production. In one possibility, Ryan Reynolds would lead and David S. Goyer would direct; in another, George Miller would set the ground for spinoffs and standalones with Adam Brody.
Then, in 2014, Warner Bros. sketched out a shared world of DC Comics films, including a solo Flash starring Miller as Barry Allen, who first appeared in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Justice League.”
Even that wasn’t so simple, with tone differences and schedule difficulties complicating matters. Several writers and filmmakers came and left from the project, including Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, Robert Zemeckis and John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein.
Barbara Muschietti told the Associated Press that everything came with a little adventure. Ezra Miller even helped them write their own movie treatment.
The Muschiettis were working up “It Chapter Two” when they were approached by the studio about “The Flash.” They didn’t care about the ugly, lengthy development history; they just wanted to know if this was worth many years of their lives. Andy Muschietti identified a powerful emotional core in the story: the bond between Barry Allen and his mother, who was murdered when he was a toddler and whom he wishes to return in time to save. “Back to the Future,” which is heavily referenced in “The Flash,” was also one of their favourite films. They had arrived.
Making “The Flash” and getting it into theatres were both hard experiences.It was shot during a pandemic During the 138-day shoot, there was no contact with friends or relatives. There were A-list schedules to work around for cameo appearances. There was a celebrity in Ezra Miller, who made news after the show ended for legal squabbles during a mental health crisis. Behind it all is a studio experiencing leadership changes and reconsidering DC Comics’ whole approach.
But first, they had to figure out how to get a two-ton Batmobile from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom in 2021, despite a global shipping container scarcity.
This was no ordinary Batmobile, to be sure. One of the originals from Tim Burton’s films was required for Michael Keaton’s caped crusader’s 30th anniversary comeback — a massive project that also included making a life-size recreation of the Batcave from scratch.
Director Andy Muschietti and his sister, producer Barbara Muschietti, awaited its arrival with bated breath, wondering if it would arrive on schedule or get trapped in the middle of the ocean.
Barbara Muschietti told the Associated Press that everything came with a little adventure.
It’s an accurate, if somewhat understated, description of releasing “The Flash” on June 16. Since the late 1980s, film adaptations of the lightning-fast comic book superhero have been in different states of production. In one possibility, Ryan Reynolds would lead and David S. Goyer would direct; in another, George Miller would set the ground for spinoffs and standalones with Adam Brody.
Then, in 2014, Warner Bros. sketched out a shared world of DC Comics films, including a solo Flash starring Miller as Barry Allen, who first appeared in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Justice League.”
Even that wasn’t so simple, with tone differences and schedule difficulties complicating matters.Several writers and directors worked on “The Flash,” including Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, Robert Zemeckis and John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, and release dates were pushed back. Ezra Miller even helped them write their own movie treatment.
The Muschiettis were working up “It Chapter Two” when they were approached by the studio about “The Flash.” They didn’t care about the ugly, lengthy development history; they just wanted to know if this was worth many years of their lives. Andy Muschietti identified a powerful emotional core in the story: the bond between Barry Allen and his mother, who was murdered when he was a toddler and whom he wishes to return in time to save. “Back to the Future,” which is heavily referenced in “The Flash,” was also one of their favourite films. They had arrived.
Christina Hobson, the screenwriter for “Birds of Prey,” had taken a stab at the plot and produced something both entertaining and heartbreaking, introducing the multiverse to the DC canon. In his effort to save his mother, Barry Allen is mistakenly thrown into another timeline, where he encounters a younger, different version of himself who becomes engrossed in the voyage. It opened up a lot of options, like reintroducing Keaton in a film that also included Ben Affleck’s “Zack Snyder Batman.”
We were all quite pleased to see Michael Keaton return after 30 years of not knowing what Batman was up to, said Andy Muschietti. The multiverse, which blended existing personalities and realms with something that appeared to be buried in the past, made this feasible.
They told Keaton, who sprinted to their Brentwood lunch meeting, that they couldn’t do the picture without him. They hoped to discover his Bruce Wayne in an unlikely location. Keaton had agreed and sprinted off by the conclusion of lunch.
Andy Muschietti commented, “I didn’t want him sitting by the fireplace with a glass of scotch.” I knew he’d turn back into Batman, so I needed him to be in a setting that allowed him to do so in the tradition of a reluctant hero. Keaton’s Batman was also supposed to make a cameo in the independent “Batgirl” film, which was eventually shelved before it was finished.
Other nostalgic callbacks in “The Flash” include an army of cameos better left unspoilt, which helps set the stage for a sequel.
“universe reboot.” Warner Bros. was undergoing major transformations and, notably, DC Studios, where new co-chairs and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran were entrusted with charting the future of the DC Universe characters, from Superman to Batman, as the picture was being made. That new vision won’t officially begin until Gunn’s new Superman debuts in 2025, but he’s also stated that “The Flash,” although being from a different regime, “resets the entire DC universe.”
During the long post-production of “The Flash,” however, actor Ezra Miller made headlines for a succession of arrests and claims of odd behaviour last year. They were detained twice in Hawaii last year, once for disorderly behaviour and harassment at a karaoke club.In January, they pled guilty to a felony stemming from a break-in and theft of wine from a neighbor’s property in Vermont. They avoided jail time by paying a $500 fine and agreeing to a number of conditions, including continuous mental health treatment.
Though some questioned if “The Flash” should be cancelled, the studio remained committed to releasing it on June 16 despite the absence of its star from the promotional circuit.
They support the film. And they’re taking their therapy extremely seriously,” Miller’s Barbara Muschietti said. “We want everyone to see this. It’s wonderful and unique. And it has all of our hearts and guts.”
While early excitement was high, with individuals like Gunn proclaiming it one of the finest superhero movies he’d ever seen, reviews have been mainly good, with much appreciation for Miller’s multiple parts.
Barbara Muschietti adds, “What you get is this delicious odd couple.” You forget they’re both played by the same actor.
There are also rumours that the Muschiettis’ partnership with DC may continue in future projects. But for the time being, the attention is on “The Flash.”
“Let’s just wait and see,” stated Andy Muschietti.
