Despite multiple delays and seriously questionable actions of late by its leading actor Ezra Miller, early reception from industry insiders lucky enough to have caught a screening of The Flash has been nothing short of glowing.
When you’ve got the likes of James Gunn and Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav heaping on praise, pragmatists may consider it to be self-serving. When you get the seemingly objective view from an action movie veteran such as Tom Cruise, well, that ought to make your ears perk up.
Cruise recently scored himself a screening of the fastest man alive’s standalone flick, and he reportedly can’t stop raving about it. Naturally, Cruise’s stamp of approval has sparked some fan-casting discussion in the DC fandom for the Mission Impossible and Top Gun star, with “older Bruce Wayne” being the author’s pick on this post over on the DC_Cinematic subreddit:
Responses to u/menimex’s take were divided, with many (if not all) commenters not wanting Cruise to step into Batman’s boot, vetoing the idea faster than The Flash can run. One comment made the apt observation that casting Cruise as Bruce Wayne would be “Jack Reacher all over again.”
Others, however, were open to seeing Cruise’s take on a handful of other DC characters, most likely in Elseworlds projects, as they deemed it unlikely that the star would commit to a recurring role in an expanding universe. Lex Luthor, adult Dick Grayson, or adult Tim Drake, among others.
Whether Cruise’s praise for The Flash signals potential future involvement in the DCU or not, his praise for the film is nothing short of lavish. With every passing day, it’s looking like a film we’d best not sleep on, unlike the most recent film Shazam! Fury of the Gods which has had a paltry box office reception.