The Flash starring scandal-hit Ezra Miller has finally been seen by critics – and the verdict is in

Ezra Miller as The Flash. (Warner Bros)

A new trailer for The Flash, featuring controversial actor Ezra Miller, has been released – but some critics have already seen the entire film and have given it the thumbs up.

As Hollywood PR disasters go, Miller’s past few years are right up there.

The star, who uses they/them pronouns, has faced a string of charges, including assault and trespassing and was also accused of harassing a family, brandishing gun in front of a child and “recruiting vulnerable young people”/calling themself messiah”, according to a Vanity Fair article last year.

In January, the 30-year-old star, who plays super-powered speedster Barry Allen/The Flash in DC’s cinematic universe, pleaded guilty to trespassing following the theft of alcohol from a private home in Vermont in August last year, with a burglary charge subsequently being dropped.

There was speculation that DC might axe Miller from its big-budget film, but the project went ahead – and reviewers seem to be lapping it up.

The critics have called the film “the best DC film since The Dark Knight“, with one even adding that it is “without a doubt among the best super-hero films ever made”.

Unanimous praise has been heaped on Miller for his performance, while some have called the film the “funniest DC movie” and a “jam-packed, multi-versal ride that DC fans will love”.

Appearing at CinemaCon earlier this week, director Andy Muschietti also praised Miller, who was recently seen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Unsurprisingly, these positive reviews for The Flash have not gone over all that well with those still pointing out Miller’s past.

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One particularly acerbic spoof critic wrote that the movie was “better than being choke-slammed to the ground outside a bar in Iceland“, and that after watching the film, “you’ll feel like you got away with multiple crimes in Hawaii”, referring to Miller’s past actions.

Underneath another critic’s review, which opens with “I know Ezra Miller has made a lot of mistakes…” Twitter users have not been best pleased.

In the new trailer, audiences are teased with not one, but two Barry Allens trying to fix a disastrous time anomaly in which all superheroes have ceased to exist, seemingly caused by the speedster going back in time to save his mother’s life.

Ben Affleck‘s and Michael Keaton’s Batman feature, as does Sasha Calle as Supergirl, with Michael Shannon as the film’s big-bad, General Zod – best known as one of Superman’s arch enemies.

The Flash is due to open in cinemas on 16 June.

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