Something profoundly special happens when a star gets as excited about a role as the fans, and Ezra Miller has pulled that off with incredible ease. With the actor set to properly debut as Barry Allen in Justice League, all eyes are on him to do something new and exciting with the character. He has clearly drawn quite a bit of inspiration from numerous sources for the role, but apparently he has even looked to Star Wars to inform his take on The Speed Force. The actor explained:
[Dance choreographer] Martha Graham, one of my greatest inspirations, said in a series... in a quote that 'there is a vitality, a life force, a quickening,' and for me, the idea of a quickening, the idea that the whole universe as we know it is essentially this composition of things at different speeds, is an interesting idea. So the Speed Force being like The Force [from Star Wars] in the sense that it's a dimensional reality that's manipulating others, almost like a gravitational wave that manipulates space-time; that is what's interesting for my Barry Allen. And for me, what becomes interesting is the human being who is suddenly coming into contact and rapidly starting to merge with the force, and what that is for a human being.
I have to admit, Ezra Miller has definitely become one of my favorite sources for nerdy enthusiasm in the Hollywood community; the guy has already done some serious Flash homework. While speaking with #Mills to promote the release of Fantastic Beasts, Miller explained his approach to portraying The Flash by comparing the metaphysical aspect of The Speed Force to The Force from Star Wars. Although neither type of energy really fits the strict definition of "magic," both represent phenomena that bind life together in their respective worlds, and ground their respective heroes. They're ultimately far greater and more expansive than the individuals who harness them.
This comparison actually makes quite a bit of sense when we examine these universes side by side. Both The Speed Force and The Force have moderately religious connotations, so it makes sense that Speedsters and Jedi immerse themselves in it with monk-like devotion.
In a grander sense, this seems to indicate that the DCEU's incarnation of Barry Allen will take on some seriously intense sci-fi concepts in Justice League and his own solo movie. With a strong emphasis on The Speed Force, the character can time travel, break the space-time continuum, and even travel to other dimensions -- all of which we have seen on The CW's version of The Flash. The Barry Allen we see in the DCEU may never reach Kingdom Come levels of power, but he's definitely going to find himself capable of far more than just an impressive 100-meter dash.
Of course, we sill just have to wait and see how The Speed Force compares to its Star Wars counterpart when Zack Snyder's Justice League hits theaters on November 17, 2017. Stay tuned for more details!
