How Ezra Miller’s cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths was pulled off

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths cross-over event concluded earlier this week and brought with it a few unexpected cameos, but perhaps the most unexpected of all was the arrival of Warner Bros.' big-screen Barry Allen played by Ezra Miller. The actor has played the role in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, SUICIDE SQUAD, and JUSTICE LEAGUE, but his own standalone film has endured numerous delays, so it was nice to see Miller as the Flash once again.

While speaking with Variety, Arrowverse executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed just how the Ezra Miller cameo came about, and surprisingly, it was Warner Bros. themselves who asked for the cameo after the cross-over had already wrapped production.

We were series wrapped on “Arrow,” and we were wrapped on the whole crossover. We were in post and some episodes were locked, and some were soft-locked. I got a phone call from [Warner Bros. boss] Peter Roth saying, “I know you’re locked, but can you put Ezra into the crossover?” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “How, you’re series wrapped? And you’re wrapped on the crossover.” And I said, “Yeah, I know, but if you’re telling me Ezra Miller can be in the crossover, I can make it happen.” I called Eric Wallace who who is the showrunner of “Flash,” and he called up Grant Gustin — because the one thing that was our only concern was the thought we didn’t want to do it unless Grant was 100 percent onboard with it. And he was.

"He was incredibly enthusiastic and onboard with it," Guggenheim continued. "And then we got on the phone with Ezra Miller and told him the scene I had written and he was completely into it. And we just went. We put together a unit of the “Flash” crew on the “Flash” set [since “Arrow’s” team, which had produced the rest of the hour, was gone]. And much to our surprise, no one noticed Ezra Miller was in Vancouver and no one leaked it from the crew, which we appreciate. So we were able to keep it a surprise." And a surprise it was.

As far as when we'll see Ezra Miller back on the big-screen as The Flash, Warner Bros. recently slated THE FLASH movie for a July 1, 2022 release, but honestly, I'll believe it when I see it as the film has seen a revolving door of writers and directors over the past few years. Seth Grahame-Smith (ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER) was originally on-board to write and direct the film back in 2015, but he soon exited the project and was replaced by Rick Famuyiwa (DOPE), who also wound up leaving over creative differences. The studio then picked John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING) to helm the film, but they also departed the project and were ultimately replaced by Andy Muschietti (IT).