David Dobkin To Direct The Flash

We all knew from the beginning that Warner Bros planned to use the Justice League of America movie to spin-off a few new DC superhero movie projects. Or at least that is the plan. Earlier this year, before all this JLA craziness, Night at the Museum helmer Shawn Levy signed on to make a movie based on The Flash. But Levy had to leave the project for undisclosed reasons. I mean, the guy has like seven other projects in development as a director (and a few others as producer), so it's likely that time became an issue.

The big news tonight is that Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus director David Dobkin has signed on with Warner Bros to make the project. Dobkin told MTV that his Flash movie will be set in the same universe as the Justice League of America movie, and will follow the Wally West incarnation of the character. Both Wally West and Barry Allen are said to be heavily featured in the Justice League movie, which means that whomever signs on to play The Flash, is also gunning for this solo project. It should also be noted that Ryan Reynolds has publicly expressed interest in the role if the new script's incarnation was Wally West.

This new bit also fits with rumors that the JLA film opens with the funeral of Barry Allen. Allen was the second Flash (1956-1986), preceding his nephew (by marriage) Wally West. The fact that Warner Bros has hired another director for the project before JLA goes into production, suggests to me that they want to strike quickly on a solo project, while the iron is hot. Asked about his vision for the Flash, Dobkin teased a somewhat melancholy tagline: "You can't outrun yourself."

But is the guy who made Wedding Crashers and Shanghai Knights the right guy to make this superhero movie? I'm still not sure George Miller is the right guy to make Justice League...