The Flash Cancelled? (My Two Cents Worth)

Everything under the sun gets cancelled these days, and man, is it ever getting out of hand. WB shouldn't have cancelled Batgirl (left it incomplete, that is) and its execs sure as hell shouldn't shelve the finished (and long delayed) The Flash, which is now rumored as a possibility. 

Regardless of Ezra Miller's antics, other celebs have done much the same or far worse in public over the years. There was a time when Robert Downey Jr's career was thought to be doomed due to his scandalous addiction, and yet he got his act together to play Iron Man for the long haul. In a nod to Downey, WB should get Miller "help" and draw publicity from that. It would make the Flash flick all the bigger upon release. (Who knows? Maybe that's the studio's surreptitious plan.) 

In any event, Michael Keaton's participation in The Flash is the real selling point. The novelty of inserting his Batman into the storyline takes the alternate-universe concept to a whole, new clever level. (His participation in Batgirl would hold the same weight, and it's not too late to finish that one, if only to secure more HBO Max subscribers.)

Hey, don't get me wrong, when celebrities do dumb things it can hurt a movie. (I know I've passed on a few flicks because some Hollywood know-it-all uttered some stupid-ass comment that rubbed me the wrong way.) All the same, hasn't Miller already remedied his missteps by using the non-binary card, or at least in one such instance? I mean, Jesse Smollett basically got away with fabricating a goddamn, faux police report because of his ballyhooed, sexual preference, so what makes Miller's situation any different? I'm not condoning the lad's actions, but still...

Mistakes made beyond a film or stage characterization are just that, and throwing a ton of money away because a performer is on the slip isn't reason enough to pretend a movie (a work of art) doesn't exist. (That's just downright Orwellian.) Get The Flash out there for folks to see. Do the same for Batgirl. Trust me, the world won't end if these two are put in cinematic circulation. 

An Alternate Reality: Batman X2 for Flashpoint/JL2?

Is it true or just a bunch of fanboy bull? No sooner do we learn that Michael Keaton will join Ezra Miller for Andy Muschietti's "Flashpoint", we then learn that Ben Affleck will also enter the plot, establishing two Dark Knights for the price of one. (Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson will fly solo in Matt Reeve's alternate-reality, reset flick. Will it trigger a trio crossover? Probably not, but then as the ol' Bond axiom goes, "never say never again", right? {BTW: I found "The Batman" trailer to be damn dark and dandy in its riddled, "Long Halloween" atmosphere and allusions.})

With all that said, in the DC multiverse, the intersecting of different actors playing the same character at the same (tit-for-tat) time is common, but the gimmick hasn't until now been so seriously considered for the big, WB screen. That's what makes this potential (fated?) "Flashpoint" teaming so extraordinary. (That other silver-screen, DC performers could {should} be on board, only increases the anticipation. {Hey, Henry Cavill, over what surrogate Earth are you now flying?})

Let those parallel-universe crossovers mount, I say! Considering the way CW intermingled the DC crusaders (even going so far as to have Miller's Barry Allen cameo on Grant Gustin's show), we've more than gotten our feet wet, and are we at all complaining?

A big-screen blending would make a live-action "Flashpoint" adaptation a revolutionary "Justice League" sequel, and with "Justice League: the Synder Cut" on the horizon (and acting no less than another official, parallel chapter in the franchise), the timely texturing couldn't be better. 

It would sure be neat to see Keaton's Bruce Wayne tangle with Affleck's (if only in a brotherly and/or father/son sorta way), giving us the equivalent of when "Doctor Who" started its sagacious mixing and matching some decades back. Shoot, if it worked for the BBC, why the hell not for DC/WB? (Then again, word has it that Affleck's Batman may only be a lead-in for the Keaton/Miller team-up. Whatever the ultimate novelty {if any should, indeed, occur}, "Flashpoint'"s innate influences should spawn a huge moneymaker when {and if} movie houses do reopen across the land.)  

An Alternate Reality?: Will Miller Team with Keaton for Flashpoint?

I guess one can only take the current, Batman/Flash buzz with a grain of salt, for rumors this good have a way of fizzling as fast as, well, the Flash. Remember when John Hamm looked like a shoe-in for a seasoned Batman? Yeah, you get the picture.

Now we have this tease about Michael Keaton in early talks to return as the Caped Crusader, but not for the rumored "Batman Beyond" flick. This time it's for a live-action "Flashpoint", headlined by Ezra Miller.  

I've always said that "Flashpoint" (done right) could be the ideal fix for DC's big-budget woes. "Flashpoint" also has the best chance of expanding the Justice League concept for the big screen. 

For sure, a film version would toss the alternate-reality scheme every which way but loose. Though CW has more than tested the waters with this nifty premise (for one, with Grant Gustin and Miller meeting), a silver-screen version of crisscrossing realities, tipped no less by an older, alternate-cinema Keaton Batman, would be the perfect hook to reel audiences in across the globe. Cha-ching!

I know this all sounds too good to be true (and it probably is), but I, for one, hope that the Ezra Miller/Michael Keaton pact has legs. If ever there was surefire gold in a pitch, shoot, this is it.