Zack Snyder Explains Why Grant Gustin Won’t Be Our Justice League Movie Flash

By now, you’ve probably heard that the Flash in the DC movie universe won’t be the one currently played be Grant Gustin on TV. Instead, Ezra Miller will take up the role. You might assume that’s because Man of Steel clearly didn’t take place on the same planet—or universe—as CW’s The Flash and Arrow shows, but you’d be partially wrong: it’s also about the grimdark.

Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder has a very clear vision for the DC movie universe and has been given the go-ahead to make it happen, and that doesn’t include the more self-aware tone of TV’s Flash. Speaking to the NY Daily News, Snyder said, “I just don’t think it was a good fit. I’m very strict with this universe and I just don’t see a version where … that [tone is] not our world.”

That’s disappointing, but it’s not altogether surprising. There are tons of moody images of Batman and Superman from their upcoming battle royale, but do you know how hard it was to find an image of Grant Gustin’s Flash looking anywhere outside the range from mildly confused to happy for the purposes of this post? Even still, I’m not actually in the anti-darkness camp; I just happen to think there’s room in a darker universe for variation of tone.

Snyder did also mention the multiverse as a hurdle, explaining that, “Even if Grant Gustin is my favorite guy in the world and he’s very good, we made a commitment to the multi-verse (idea), so it’s just not a thing that’s possible.” Although … doesn’t the multi-verse just make it more possible for the Flash from a different Earth to wind up in the Justice League movies? Hasn’t The Flash already dabbled in parallel universes colliding on TV? Acknowledging that the characters exist in parallel universes to each other—as opposed to just keeping TV and movies separate for real world reasons—is a weird way to justify keeping them apart.

(via Entertainment Weekly, image via Diyah Pera/The CW)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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