Ezra Miller is The Flash! But wait. Isn’t Grant Gustin already The Flash? Yes, Gustin plays the Scarlet Speedster, a.k.a. forensic scientist Barry Allen weekly on The CW’s hit show ‘The Flash’. But Seth Grahame-Smith is directing a movie starring the same character, due in 2018 and in it, Miller will play the same part. Confused?
That’s what some folks were concerned about. With Marvel, their TV shows, including the ones on Netflix, take place in the same shared universe as their movies. Whenever a character from the movies pops up on TV, they are played by the same actor. But in DC’s case… well, their TV shows don’t even take place in the same universe. ‘Supergirl’ was intended to take place in a separate universe, but this spring, she will actually encounter Gustin’s Flash in an episode that deals with dimensional travel. They may not take place in the same universe, but at least they’re in the same multiverse. And of course, ‘The Flash’, ‘Arrow’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ do share one universe. But ‘Gotham’ takes place in its own reality, cut off from the rest, as did the now canceled ‘Constantine’. Well, it did…
Even so, at least the shows on The CW are sizable hits. If Warner Brothers, which owns DC Comics is making movies based on those characters, wouldn’t it make sense to simply use the already popular actors and storylines from the TV shows?
Well. They’re not.
Why is that? Fans have been wondering about that for some time and now, ‘Batman V Superman’ director Zack Snyder has issued an official response:
“This is the bottom line for me. I have 100% respect and love for what they’re doing on TV. I think it’s amazing. The joy and the fun of them speaks to the iconic, graphic nature of these characters. These characters are bigger than any of the actors playing them. Long after I’m done making a Batman v Superman movie, there will be someone else who makes it. It’s almost like an American tradition now we’ve established that these characters will be played again and again, and they exist outside of us in this moment.
I think that’s sort of the thing I’ve embraced, and as opposed to trying to shoehorn all of these storylines into a single universe, we let the characters exist in multi-universe, and therefore it’s a lot more fun and a lot more value for the audience. They get to see their favorite and most beloved characters on different adventures at the same time in different universes and it really makes the meal a lot richer and a lot more fun. We get to go with these guys in all different directions and that’s really the joy of what we’re trying to do over here at DC.”
‘Batman V Superman’ sets up the new DC Cinematic Universe. Everything is new, or if it’s not, the past will be fleshed out like we’ve seen in the clips from ‘Wonder Woman’. ‘Arrow’ has been on the air for four seasons and a LOT has happened in that time. Not only would Snyder have to make that character coherent to an audience that may be unfamiliar with the show, not to mention the fact that the movie would be shot at least a year before its release, necessitating that the TV team plot out their storylines that far advance and logistically, that would likely be impossible.
Are you still upset that Grant Gustin and the other TV actors will not play those roles in the movies? Or is it double the pleasure to get two separate versions of your favorite characters?
Snyder’s ‘Batman V Superman’ opens on March 25, 2016.
Source: Comic Book Movie