The good news – no, the great fucking news – is that Shawn Levy is off the big screen adaptation of The Flash. This is great news because it means that this hack isn’t going to be ruining the film incarnation of one of DC’s few cinematically intriguing characters. But is there better news? I don’t really know, since it turns out that David Dobkin, the guy behind The Wedding Crashers and Fred Clause, is directing.
I liked The Wedding Crashers, but I hear Fred Clause is liquid shit, and the rest of Dobkin’s CV doesn’t inspire huge amounts of confidence. I am going to be hopeful for two reasons: it may turn out that he’s just been waiting for a chance like this to really shine, and because directors keep falling off The Flash. Dobkin’s the third director attached to the project, making him the Wally West of the crew.
Which is fitting, as he tells MTV Movie Blog that Wally will be his Flash. And get this – his movie will be a spin-off of Justice League of America, where Barry Allen is The Flash until he gets killasized (I would say this was a spoiler, but getting killed is all Barry does anymore. If Barry Allen is being introduced in the role of The Flash, you know he will die before the end of the story), leaving Wally – who is written as a kid who plays a lot of video games (think Impulse from the comics) to take over. That means that the casting calls going on right now for George Miller’s film have double impact: these actors will almost undoubtedly play these characters in spin-offs as well. I don’t know if Dobkin is getting a chance to consult with Miller on the casting of The Flash, but again, considering the revolving door of directors and the fact that this movie will be disappeared if JLA tanks, I wouldn’t bet on it.