As Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ long-awaited superhero adaptation, The Flash continues its race to the big screen, lead actor Ezra Miller is facing a number of legal issues. In the past few months alone, the Barry Allen actor has been arrested multiple times in Hawaii and been accused of putting a couple’s teenage daughter in danger. Warner has yet to make an official announcement regarding Miller’s future with the DC Extended Universe, but recent reports suggest that the studio is looking to cut ties with them. Amid the speculation, comics great Grant Morrison, who once co-wrote a draft of the script with Miller, is speaking out on the actor’s situation and their scrapped screenplay.
Considering how closely Grant Morrison worked with the actor it’s no surprise that he’d be asked for his take on the star’s personal problems. Morrison recently revealed that they have been keeping up with the news regarding Miller. And the beloved comics scribe further explained that the person he’s been hearing about as of late isn’t the one that they once penned a script with:
I know they’ve had these problems. I haven’t spoken to them for a while, and the last time I spoke was long, long before this. All I can say is that it’s just not the person I know. I’ve heard stories just like everyone else. I just don’t know. Ezra cut off contact from pretty much everyone for a while. It’s not the person they were. They weren’t aggressive in any way. I just thought Ezra was a super-intelligent kid with so many talents. So all I can say is that I didn’t see that side in any way with them.
Grant Morrison, whose credits include Batman, Doom Patrol and Fantastic Four, teamed up with Ezra Miller to write a script for The Flash in 2019. At the time, Miller was reportedly unhappy with the lighthearted approach that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (the directors at the time) were taking. During their conversation with Rolling Stone, Morrison went on to explain their approach to the story and why Warner Bros. ultimately opted not to proceed with it:
Well, there had been a few versions, and as far as I remember, Ezra just wasn’t quite happy with what they were getting at the time. And Ezra had a lot of ideas; they came to me with a book of ideas. And then we worked together. It really was just the two of us. They came over here to Scotland and hung out, and we wrote this thing. I really liked it. Warner Bros. only gave us two weeks! It was cruelty, you know. It was hardcore. We had to be like the Flash to get this thing done, and they were looking for something quite different. I got paid, and it was good fun. It didn’t do the job they were looking for, which was to franchise things and set things up, and bring other characters in. It was a Flash story, so it wasn’t where they wanted to go with multiverse and stuff. And that was the end of it.
The producers and current director Andy Muschietti have gone all in on the multiverse approach. The movie will see Barry Allen race back in time in order to prevent his mother’s death, but his actions will have wide-ranging ramifications. As teased in the first look, the hero will cross paths with Sasha Calle’s Supergirl and will even meet Michael Keaton’s Batman. The film’s release will be the realization of a dream for Warner Bros., DC and the vivacious fanbase. Though amid the hype, it’s hard not to take note of the lead actor’s current circumstances.
Most recently, the parents of teenage activist Tokata Iron Eyes filed legal documents, in which they accused the Perks of Being a Wallflower alum of grooming and physically abusing their daughter. Tokata, via social media, has since denied her parents’ allegations. Earlier this week, her mother and father filed for a protection order amid the situation and, later in the week, another order was filed by the parents of 12-year-old, non-binary child. The couple alleged that the actor threatened their family and acted inappropriately towards their kid.
As these filings come in, no one has been able to locate Ezra Miller. They did, however, take to their now-deleted Instagram, where they posted memes that mocked authorities trying to locate them. This past week, Deadline also reported that Warner Bros. tried getting them help, but it now seems that Miller will not be a part of DC Films’ plans moving forward.
Many are surely waiting intently to see how the studio formally addresses the ongoing situation. At the moment, many have already started thinking about potential successors, with fan art even imagining Dylan O’Brien in the role. Superhero devotees, Grant Morrison and more will surely be watching to see how things pan out in regard to Miller’s professional and personal problems.
The Flash is set to finally hit theaters on June 23, 2023.
