Zack Snyder Reveals The Movie That Convinced Him Ezra Miller Was His Flash

Premium social network Vero has essentially turned into a Zack Snyder trivia machine, with the director available at all hours to answer questions on the production of Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League from anyone who cares to ask. The latest came when a user asked the filmmaker if he was “sold on Ezra Miller” from the get go as The Flash. His reply? “[I was] the day I saw him in Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the 2012 Stephen Chbosky movie, it’s a pretty damn good teen drama about a high school kid dealing with depression and anxiety. Miller plays Patrick, a character suffering homophobic abuse that the protagonist befriends. It’s a complex performance that put Ezra Miller on the map, and while I don’t think I’d have made the leap that this role would make him the perfect Flash, there’s an undeniable energy and tension to him that Snyder latched onto.

However, there’s no getting away from the fact that Miller’s take on the DC Universe’s iconic speedster was one of the more heavily criticized elements of Justice League, with audiences and critics finding his quips and comedy antics annoying rather than endearing. For me, one of the lowest points of the movie was the poorly judged scene in which he takes a comedy pratfall onto Wonder Woman’s breasts, which came across as a bit skeevy and desperate, especially considering the respect with which she was treated in her solo outing.

That being said, I’m fully prepared to believe that his tin-eared gags were entirely the fault of Joss Whedon’s attempts to lighten up the movie and I’m sure in the fabled Snyder cut, Miller is an excellent Flash. But then again, it’s awfully convenient to have a purportedly better alternative cut of a film that no one can (probably) ever see, right?

In the meantime, the question of when the young actor will return to the role is still a little hazy. For a while, DC was set to make the Flash movie an adaptation of the Flashpoint comic book event. Warner Bros recently put the brakes on that, however, and as of right now, we have no idea what form a solo outing might take, or even if it’ll ever get off the ground, for that matter.