In the past few days, you may have heard about what Warner Bros has planned for the DCEU. That Justice League tease finally gave us a proper introduction to The Flash, played by Ezra Miller. As excited as we are for that team-up film, seeing Miller as Allen was a pure delight and has restored my confidence that the DCEU can stand side-by-side with their Marvel Studio competitors. While the Scarlet Speedster’s solo film, The Flash, which will be directed by Dope‘s Rick Famuyiwa, is still years away from release, we are getting a look at the diverse cast. A new report confirms that there will be a small reunion of sorts as Dope star Kiersey Clemons will play Iris West in the film.

More on the story below.

Clemons casting has actually been a long-gestating rumor that dates back to a few weeks ago. Now, Variety has confirmed that rumor to be true. Obviously, the announcement would have been better suited if it was made during the San Diego Comic-Con where Famuyiwa briefly spoke about adding his voice into the film. There have been many arguments about how directors often clash creatively with studios when it comes to the vision of a film, but the way that Famuyiwa spoke about it at the Con seems like they are on good terms.

As previously mentioned, the casting reunites Clemons and Famuyiwa. The two previously worked together on Dope, which made its Sundance debut just a few years back. Now, I wasn’t a huge fan of that film, as I had some issues with the its rhythm and tone, but it was certainly an ambitious project.

Clemons credits includes Amazon dramedy Transparent and the CBS sci-fi TV series Extant. She most recently appeared in the comedy sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising alongside Seth Rogen, Rose Bryne, Zac Efron, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Beanie Feldstein.

The Lego Movie‘s Phil Lord and Chris Miller penned a treatment of The Flash, which was set to be written and directed by Seth Grahame-Smith. Grahame-Smith eventually dropped out due to creative differences. Lord and Miller were also tapped to direct but were unable to, given the amount of projects they are working on, plus directing the Han Solo movie. Eventually, Famuyiwa signed on, and the rest is history.

It’s still too early to tell what this film will even be about. But looking at the teaser trailer for Justice League that was shown to us at SDCC this past weekend, this Barry Allen will have plenty of charm and likability. So it should be interesting to see what kind of impact Justice League will have on The Flash solo film. If anything, it may improve Barry’s social life given that he “needs friends.”

The Flash is set to begin shooting later this year for a March 16, 2018 release in theaters.

[Source: Variety]