‘The Flash’ was slow in getting made

universe, with something that seemed to have been buried in the past.”

They told Keaton, who jogged to their lunch meeting in Brentwood, they wouldn’t be able to do the film without him. They wanted to find his Bruce Wayne in a place people wouldn’t expect. By the end of lunch, Keaton had agreed and jogged off.

“I didn’t want him to be sitting near the fireplace, like staring out of a glass of whiskey,” Andy Muschietti said. “I knew he was going to transform back into Batman so I needed him to be in a place that made that transformation possible in the tradition of a reluctant hero.”

Keaton’s Batman was also due to make a return in the standalone “Batgirl” movie which was ultimately shelved close to completion.

“The Flash” has other nostalgic nods, including an army of cameos best left unspoiled, that helps set the stage for a “universe reboot.” While making the film, big leadership changes were afoot at Warner Bros. and, specifically, DC Studios, where new co-chairs and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran were tasked with plotting the future of the DC Universe characters, from Superman to Batman. That new vision won’t officially begin until Gunn’s new Superman in 2025, but he’s also said that “The Flash,” though technically from a previous regime, “resets the entire DC universe.”

But then during the extensive post-production on “The Flash,” star Ezra Miller, also started making headlines for a string of arrests and reports of erratic behavior last year. They were arrested twice last year in Hawaii, including for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar. In January, they pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a break-in and theft of alcohol at a neighbor’s home in Vermont. They avoided jail time but paid a $500 fine and got a year of probation, agreeing to abide by a number of conditions including continued mental health treatment.

Though some questioned whether “The Flash” should be shelved, the studio remained committed to releasing it on June 16 even without their star on the promotional circuit.

“We’re in contact with them. They love the movie. They support the movie. And they’re taking their treatment very seriously,” said Barbara Muschietti of Miller. “We want everybody to see this. It’s great and it’s special. And it has all our hearts and guts.”

While early hyperbole abounded with people like Gunn calling it one of the best superhero movies he’d ever seen, reviews have indeed been mostly very positive with lots of praise for Miller’s dual roles.