Is Ezra Miller’s plea deal enough to save The Flash?

IN an anticlimactic end to the criminal saga that occupied headlines for months in 2022, actor Ezra Miller pleaded guilty last week to unlawful trespassing in a Vermont burglary case.

The 30-year-old Fantastic Beasts and Justice League star, who is non-binary, took a plea deal in order to avoid jail time. In return, Miller was ordered to pay a US$500 (RM2,170) fine and face one year of probation. They also agreed to several conditions that included staying sober and undergoing mental health treatment.

Last year, Miller made the news for a string of offenses, including two arrests in Hawaii, a suspected kidnapping case involving a Native American teenager, and the aforementioned burglary charge. Their mounting legal issues raised questions about the actor’s upcoming film The Flash, which reportedly cost US$200 million (RM868 million) to make, and which Warner Bros. had been banking on reviving the flagging DCEU brand.

At one point, studio executives had been considering scrapping the film, which was to have been released last year, and recasting the role of The Flash for any future DCEU films. Ultimately, The Flash and another DCEU film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, had their release dates moved to 2023, to make way for Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam.

Last August, Miller was spotted at the Warner Bros. lot in California attending what appeared to be a secret meeting with studio executives. A day later, they released a statement that reassured their commitment to the franchise and apologised for “bringing negative attention to the film” with their behaviour. “I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life,” they said in their statement.

It appears that Miller’s efforts have mollified the studio, as they do not appear to have been affected by the recent recastings since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the franchise.

Furthermore, Warner Bros. executives are apparently open to retaining Miller as The Flash for future films, according to a recent report by Variety. However, this could all depend upon the performance of the film – and whether or not the studio can recoup its investment – when it opens in theatres worldwide on June 16 this year.

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