So What Does It Mean That Lord and Miller Are “Developing” a Flash Movie?

I didn’t jump on this news immediately yesterday because it seemed so vague. “Developing” is what Dan Aykroyd did for years with Ghostbusters 3, for example, which Miller and Lord were also once rumored to make. But when more than one reliable source started treating this as being more exciting than one might imagine, I thought on it a little more.

Chris Miller and Phil Lord constantly joke about how they make movies from incredibly bad ideas. Lego. A 21 Jump Street remake. A really short kids book about meatballs falling from the sky. And they’ve made every one of them work. Now, of all the DC movies in the pipeline, The Flash is arguably the worst idea of the lot, as it’s the only one directly competing with a current, popular TV show about the same guy. It wouldn’t be impossible to do a Justice League without him, yet there he is anyway, already cast.

But right now, all they’re doing is working on a treatment, which usually means about a 14-page-or-so synopsis of all the major story beats. Jokes and gags will come later – this is about nailing down the broad strokes. And if they don’t ultimately opt to direct, it may change completely; and will certainly be altered by whoever writes the script.

The fact that they’re even being considered should at least give us hope that that whole mantra of DC movies being the “darker, serious ones” isn’t going to hold true on every movie. And considering the duo has made the only good movie ever to costar Batman, Superman and Green Lantern together, they’re not slouches. However, they also don’t absolutely need the gig. So while the news is a net positive, it’s far too early to declare everything awesome with the Scarlet Speedster.