Rumor: DC to replace Ezra Miller with Dylan O’Brien as the Flash?

DC Films is in a pickle: Ezra Miller has been playing the Flash since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and was successful enough at it that Warner Bros. is giving him a solo movie next year. Warner Bros. has long been trying to make a DC Cinematic Universe that can stand up to Marvel’s movie empire, and getting consistent actors playing these iconic heroes is a big part of that.

But there’s a problem: Ezra Miller has sorta flown off the handle recently, having been arrested multiple times for doing a bunch of stupid stuff and generally being a PR headache for the studio. Last we heard, the brass at Warner Bros. and DC Films wanted to “hit pause” on the Ezra Miller projects they currently have in the hopper, which could also include future movies in the Fantastic Beasts franchise; he plays Credence Barebone in those movies.

But how are you supposed to build out a superhero cinematic universe if you can’t use the actor playing one of the biggest characters? What about a recast?

Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien may replace Ezra Miller as the Flash

This is fully a rumor, but ScreenGeek is reporting that DC Films is considering replacing Miller as the Flash with 30-year-old actor Dylan O’Brien, probably best known for playing Stiles Stilinski on the TV show Teen Wolf.

I can believe that the studio wants to give Miller the boot, but the problem is that they already have a full Flash film with him in the lead role shot and scheduled. Filming on The Flash wrapped up in October of 2021, before Miller’s antics started getting him bad press, and the movie is due out in theaters on June 23, 2023.

So if Warner Bros. replaced him, would it reshoot the whole movie, or release it as is and just sub in O’Brien (or whoever) for future projects? These are doubtless the kinds of questions that keep studio executives up at night.

Speaking of radioactive actors who play DC superheroes, Warner Bros. also has to decide what to do about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which finished shooting this past January and stars Amber Heard — who’s currently being deluged in bad press thanks to an ongoing defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp — as the character Mera. That one is due out on March 17, 2023. Those execs aren’t getting any sleep for a while.

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