Ezra Miller's Flash Will Never Be Tom Holland's Spider-Man (Despite What DC Wants)

This article contains spoilers for "The Flash"

In "The Flash," Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is a gangly, wise-cracking junior superhero who wears a tight red costume and whose mentor is an impossibly cool billionaire who fights crime with high-tech gadgets. He's traumatized by the violent death of an older relative and remains committed to his sole living parent figure, while nevertheless keeping his crimefighter identity secret from them. He's an extremely smart guy whose civilian identity is a science-oriented nerd, and he has extensive knowledge of a wide array of subjects like math. Despite being one of the most powerful superheroes around and adored by teens, his youth and lack of experience mean that his peers tend to only call him as a last resort.

You know who also fits that exact same description, right? Yep, it's Spider-Man — specifically, Tom Holland's Marvel Cinematic Universe take on the character. Combine this with the fact that the Flash's self-titled movie takes him into the multiverse and teams him up with an alternate-universe version of himself, and things are starting to look a lot like DC is doing its level best to set Barry up as the alternate-company equivalent of the friendly neighborhood multiversal wall-climber, circa "Spider-Man: No Way Home." 

There's just one problem. Shoehorning The Flash into the Spider-Man mold is an approach that's doomed to fail for two very simple reasons: At his core, The Flash is a very different character from Spider-Man — and Miller is a very different actor from Holland.

The MCU reimagines Spider-Man as a young, strong, but decidedly street-level hero who wears a DIY costume before Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) tracks him down, upgrades his suit, and starts mentoring him. This exact thing happens to Miller's Flash, as well — only, his mentor is Batman. "The Flash's" tie-in comic confirms what the movie heavily implies: Bruce Wayne and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) have fully taken Barry under their wing, and his cool new ring suit is also a gift from them. All in all, there are just too many clear parallels to Holland's Spider-Man to ignore.

However, "The Flash" forgets one thing: Peter Parker is consistently written as an extremely relatable, likable guy. Sure, he's a genius and has powers — but he's perpetually overwhelmed by virtually every aspect of his life, to the point that even his famous, quippy sense of humor is essentially a coping mechanism. Meanwhile, Barry Allen can crack a joke, but he's also extremely awkward, nervous, and detached, with a personality so grating that his own alternate-universe self starts almost immediately getting on his nerves. What's more, "The Flash" makes clear that he's so powerful that he can easily destroy the multiverse, and so fast that only an alternate version of himself can stop him should he choose to do so. This alone should be more than enough to place him firmly at the top of the DCEU power rankings, and such power also means that he's a lot less relatable than a guy who swings between skyscrapers and spin-kicks villains.

Of course, there's one more metric indicating that DC should let the Flash stay in his lane instead of positioning him as a Holland Spidey-style multiversal cool kid. Audiences and critics both agree that "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is a better movie than "The Flash," so DC brass forcing Miller's character in the MCU Spider-Man mold means that they might as well have handed Barry the second fiddle.

There's also the matter of actors. Both Ezra Miller and Tom Holland are obviously talented performers, but unfortunately for the former, it takes more than acting prowess to act as the face of a mega-franchise.

Spider-Man is arguably the focal point of the current MCU, and Holland is the perfect guy to play — no, embody — the role. He's as charismatic as they come, yet intensely down-to-earth, and very, very human — after all, his tendency to accidentally let MCU spoilers slip is nothing short of legendary. He's not afraid to take a break from acting if things get too difficult or give a truly iconic lip-synch performance of Rihanna's "Umbrella" on TV. In other words, he's a very rare combination of star power and relatability ... not unlike Spider-Man himself, as a matter of fact. Of course, he's also scandal-free, which is always handy for one of the main players in a multi-billion entertainment enterprise. 

Miller, on the other hand, isn't particularly relatable or devoid of scandals, due to their slew of legal difficulties following various arrests and allegations. In 2022, they sought mental health treatment and no further scandals have emerged, but their past alleged behavior still means that they're unlikely to compete with Holland any time soon, at least image-wise. 

"The Flash" makes a spirited attempt at turning Barry Allen into a carbon copy of Holland's Peter Parker, but the ingredients simply aren't there. In the future, DC movies might want to blaze their own trail and develop the characters on their own terms, instead of turning a perfectly good speedster superhero into a mock-up of the most popular MCU character, played by the quintessential superhero movie star.