Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav put his stamp of approval on Ezra Miller’s upcoming The Flash film.
During Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q4 2022 Earnings call, Zaslav discussed the upcoming DCU slate announced by James Gunn as well as the upcoming DC films that will release this year.
First he touted Gunn’s DCU plan, “A few weeks ago James [Gunn] and Peter [Safran] rolled out phase one of their highly anticipated multi-year plan for DC Studios across film, television, and animation. With five films and five television series already in the works, the new era for DC under a single creative decision is in full swing.”
Zaslav then seemingly revealed that the previously announced Batman: The Brave and The Bold film will release in 2025 albeit he might also be referring to Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel. He stated, “And we are especially eager to thrill fans with new Superman and Batman movies in 2025.”
“There hasn’t been a standalone Superman movie in a decade,” Zaslav continued. “This is some of the most recognized and beloved storytelling IP in the world and we’re excited to tell even more of those stories.”
Zaslav then shifted his focus to the upcoming DC films releasing later this year, “We’re also excited for the release of four DC films this year. Starting with Shazam in two weeks and followed by The Flash, which James Gunn called one of the greatest superhero movies ever made; a masterpiece.”
“I saw it and loved it, it’s a wow,” Zaslav touted. “I can’t wait for The Flash to hit the theaters in June.”
The Flash does seem to be a lynchpin film for DC Studios. During the reveal of the DCU slate James Gunn claimed the film would reset the universe.
He said, “First, we have Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Shazam has always been off kind of in his own part of the DCU so he connects very well. That moves directly into The Flash, a fantastic movie that I really love, that resets the entire DCU universe.”
RELATED: James Gunn Appears To Walk Back Statements That ‘The Flash’ Resets The DC Universe
However, he would seemingly walk that back replying to a user on Instagram questioning how Viola Davis could still play Amanda Waller in the announced Waller series if The Flash is reseting the universe.
Gunn answered, “Flash resets many things, not all things. Some characters remain the same some do not.”
RELATED: James Gunn Claims He Didn’t Fire Henry Cavill From Superman, Says “Henry Was Never Cast”
Despite the hype from Gunn and Zaslav audiences do not appear to be that interested in the film. A Google Trends comparison of The Flash against Black Adam and The Batman shows it is pacing well below the other two.
However, it does appear that the most recent trailer did give it a slightly higher spike than what Black Adam’s trailer did for it.
The film is pacing far ahead of Shazam! Fury of the Gods following the release of its first trailer. However, before the release of the trailer the two films had seemingly similar interest levels with The Flash edging it out earlier in 2022.
The Flash arrives in theaters on June 16, 2023.
What do you make of Zaslav’s hype for The Flash? Do you think this is just obligatory or does he actually believe what he’s saying?