The Flash & Michael Keaton's Batman Return Delayed To 2023
Warner Bros. and DC Films officially delayed The Flash movie starring Ezra Miller to June 2023, pushing it nearly seven months from the previous date.
Warner Bros. and DC Films have delayed The Flash movie from its November 2022 date to a new summer 2023 release date. After various attempts to get a solo movie for Ezra Miller's Barry Allen off the ground, The Flash finally made significant progress over the last few years to put itself in a position to be a major 2022 release. Warner Bros. has already started marketing the multiverse/time-traveling story centered around Flash, which allows Michael Keaton's Batman to return and introduces Sasha Calle's Supergirl to the DC Extended Universe.
Directed by Andy Muschietti, The Flash has been one of four live-action DC movies that have kept fans excited about what is coming next. Following the release of The Batman, Black Adam was the only live-action DCEU movie standing between fans and seeing The Flash. However, many began to wonder if Ezra Miller's solo movie was in jeopardy of changing its release date after Dwayne Johnson announced Black Adam's release date delay.
Warner Bros. announced a number of release date changes to its 2022 and 2023 slate today, which included the delay of The Flash. The movie will now be released exclusively in theaters on June 23, 2023, roughly seven months after the previous November 4, 2022 release date. This means The Flash movie will arrive over five years after the original release date given to the project by WB and DC.
There is no specific reason given for why The Flash got delayed to 2023, but it is part of a much bigger change to the DCEU slate. Black Adam shifted to October 21, 2022, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom moved to March 17, 2023. While three DCEU movies were delayed including The Flash, the one piece of good news for DC fans was that Shazam: Fury of the Gods moved up a few months to December 2022. This means that there will still be two more DCEU movies released in 2022, even if The Flash and Michael Keaton's Batman return has to wait until 2023.
One of the unconfirmed consequences of The Flash's release date delay to 2023 could be Batgirl also following suit. The HBO Max original movie is bringing Michael Keaton back, where he'll seemingly serve as the DCEU's main Batman. This only makes sense after The Flash's multiverse story. Leslie Grace's Batgirl solo movie was previously expected to release in December 2022, a few weeks after The Flash hit theaters. So, not only will The Flash's delay mean fans have to wait longer to see Michael Keaton's Batman again, but it could also result in his second DCEU appearance moving back too. If that is the case, then the DC release date changes aren't done yet.
Source: Warner Bros.