OK, the 2024 box office has been a bit dire this year, but “Inside Out 2,” which crossed $1 billion worldwide in about two weeks, is giving the industry some hope. Also, “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die” and “A Quiet Place: Day One” have posted strong numbers so far, so maybe summer is finally taking off a little later than its usual theatrical start in May. And, of course, one of the biggest hits of the year could easily be Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Directed by Shawn Levy, the film stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in a big Marvel movie that could break the internet with its many expected cameos. But did you know Levy almost made a superhero film before? And its apparently DC’s “The Flash” that went on to star Ezra Miller.
In a new EW profile, Levy says he’s been offered a lot of franchise films over the years but turned them down. “I get offered some IP-based movie every week, and, as you’ve noticed from a lack of announcements, I pretty much always turn them down because I need to feel that I see a story worth telling,” he said.
However, Levy says the closest he came to directing a superhero movie “was ‘The Flash,’ starring Ezra Miller,” though he says that was “a brief moment in time.”
While this seems like news, Entertainment Weekly is a little off here. While yes, dozens of writers and directors were involved with the Ezra Miller-starring version of “The Flash,” which was first announced in 2013 (and didn’t arrive until 2023—talk about development hell), Levy was actually attached in another far-off era.
Levy was actually attached to “The Flash” in 2007, way before the Zack Snyder-verse had begun with 2013’s “Man of Steel.” David Goyer, who co-wrote “Batman Begins” for Warners, had been attached to write, direct, and produce “The Flash” before this but then dropped out the same year and was quickly replaced by Levy. This was, of course, years before Miller was cast as The Flash in “Batman V. Superman.”
Levy dropped out of the film less than a year later due to scheduling conflicts with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (2009), and David Dobkin took over as director, but that version never got made either.
As mentioned, the DC Extended Universe version of “The Flash” took ten years to make. Dozens of writers and directors were attached over the years. “Spider-Verse” guys Phil Lord and Chris Miller were possibilities, Rick Famuyiwa (“Dope”), Robert Zemeckis, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “Game Night,”) DC’s Geoff Johns, Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”) are just a sampling of some of the names involved with the project over the years as either writers, directors or both.
Ultimately, “IT” director Andy Muschietti helmed the film and it was written by then go-to DC writer Christina Hodson who penned “Birds Of Prey,” and the scrapped “Batgirl” movie. While Warner Bros. David Zaslav and newly appointed DC Studios chief James Gunn both boasted the film was one of the best superhero films ever made, it was not; and audiences knew it. The comic book movie grossed a paltry $271.3 million worldwide against a budget of reportedly $200–220 million.
Interestingly enough, Internet rumors say Shawn Levy is no longer involved with “Avengers 5,” which he was said to be tentatively circling, but we’ll have to wait for more concrete news before we report that officially. So, to recap: Shawn Levy was once involved with “The Flash,” but a much earlier version than one with Ezra Miller (with no actor ever officially attached to star).