Variety is reporting that production on The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, has been pushed back to late 2019. That means the film will not be in theaters until 2021 at the earliest.
In releasing that information, Variety also hinted that Warner Bros./DC Comics may be moving forward without Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman. I'm not sure whether Cavill's schedule is conflicting with him suiting up as The Man of Steel again, or what. Affleck is currently undergoing rehab. There's not been any word on a sequel to the 2013 Man of Steel film, or any further on Cavill as Superman. Affleck's solo film as Batman has been in development for some time now.
Here's what concerns me about this whole thing. Warner Bros./DC Comics has been trying to "Marvelize" these icons. Make them more relatable by giving them angst, and maybe, real-world problems. It works for Peter Parker to have issues, complications and stress that are either compounded or lifted by The Amazing Spider-Man. What about a carefree millionaire-philanthropist-playboy? King of Atlantis? Amazon Princess?
Smallville imagined Clark Kent growing up trying to define himself. We got to see what made him a Man of Steel. My problem with that show was that in addition to the mistakes he made, He somehow landed a job as a crack, star reporter at The Daily Planet without a college education. There seemed a number of fumbles along the way. I say that with fervent passion: I loved watching that show with my boys after bringing them home forever from Ukraine.
I get that it makes sense to be real, and human and show how a person picks themselves up and moves on after making a mistake. We're not really doing that very well in real life, though, are we? Just look at James Gunn. Fired, and seemingly unforgiven, by Disney for a mistake he made years ago that he admitted, regretted and apologized for.
My concern is more for Affleck, and then, Batman.
I remember once hearing Clayton Moore talk about how they acted in public, off screen of The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger had a creed that the actors themselves followed.
"Kids nowadays aren't so quick to worship heroes. The world is a lot more complicated; we don't seem to believe in absolute good and evil - white hats and black hats - anymore. It's fashionable to think of virtue and honor and bravery as naive, outmoded emotions. Deep down, I believe that people still cling to those ideals. When I first appeared on television as the Lone Ranger, Jay Silverheels (Tonto) and I used to do a lot of public appearances. Years earlier, when George W. Trendle created the Lone Ranger for the radio, he gave his writers a code of behavior that the Lone Ranger and Tonto must live by. Jay and I were heroes to millions of kids, and to avoid disappointing them, we lived by Trendle's original rules."
There is a story that the late Jay Thomas told on The Late Show with David Letterman. Every Christmas, Letterman would have a decorated tree with a giant meatball on top. He would invite Thomas on the show to knock the meatball off with a football. Thomas would throw the football to knock the meatball off. Then he would tell the story of working in radio and doing a life broadcast, or remote, at a car dealer with Clayton Moore. After the live broadcast, Thomas was Moore's chauffeur to the airport. Thomas' car was cut off in traffic by another motorist. Thomas chased him down and confronted him. The driver scoffed, asking Thomas who they would believe.
I get chill bumps when Thomas relates how Clayton Moore, in full The Lone Ranger costume rises out of the backseat of Thomas' beat-up Volvo and tells the motorist in his deep, rich baritone, "They'll believe ME, citizen."
I want my superheroes and my actors who play my superheroes to be more like THAT.
Let's expect more, and stop settling for less.
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