Just like in the theatrical version of Justice League, the recently-released Zack Snyder’s Justice League saw Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen visiting his father, Henry Allen, in prison. However, while The Flash movie will feature Henry again, Billy Crudup won’t reprise the role. Instead, it’s been revealed that Office Space and A Million Little Things actor Ron Livingston will take over the role, and the casting updates don’t end with him.
Following Billy Crudup needing to exit The Flash due to scheduling conflicts with Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, we’ll now see Ron Livingston put his stamp on Henry Allen. Additionally, Variety reports that Ian Loh has been cast as young Barry Allen, while Derry Girls star Saoirse-Monica Jackson and internet personality Rudy Mancuso have been cast in undisclosed roles.
No doubt many of you know Ron Livingston best for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 comedy Office Space, or perhaps you remember him best from his time as Captain Lewis Dixon in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. As far as Livingston’s more recent work goes, he’s appeared in movies like Tully, The Professor and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, while on TV, he currently stars in the Amazon Prime Video series Loudermilk and recurs on the ABC series A Million Little Things. Given that The Flash movie is adapting elements of the Flashpoint storyline, it makes since that the production brought Livingston to fill in as Henry Allen rather than simply remove the character, as well as cast Ian Loh as Barry Allen in his childhood years.
These four actors join an already stacked cast for The Flash. Along with Ezra Miller starring as DC Comics’ Scarlet Speedster again, Kiersey Clemons’ will also reprise Iris West following her brief appearance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and Ben Affleck is returning as Batman. The Flash will also feature The Young and the Restless’ Sasha Calle as Supergirl and Pan’s Labyrinth’s Maribel Verdú as Barry Allen’s mother, who’s named Nora in the comics. It’s also been reported numerous times that Michael Keaton will star as his version of Batman, though the actor continues to dodge questions about whether or not he’s actually donning the Batsuit again. At one point Ray Fisher was supposed to appear as Cyborg, but the character has since been written out.
Behind the scenes, IT director Andy Muschietti is taking the helming reins on The Flash and working off a screenplay written by Bumblebee and Birds of Prey’s Christina Hodson. Outside of the Flashpoint influences, no specific details about The Flash’s story have been revealed to the public, although in addition to time travel, the multiverse is also expected to factor in. With Barry Allen’s mother being dead in the DCEU and Henry Allen having been convicted of the murder, I eagerly await learning whether or not Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, is the true culprit like he is in the comics, not to mention who will play him if he does indeed show up.
With filming set to begin next month, The Flash is on track to race into theaters on November 4, 2022. Keep track of what else is in development for the DCEU with our upcoming DC movies guide.
