As part of their mega unveiling of titles and release dates earlier today, Warner Bros. announced that they are indeed making a superhero movie about The Flash, that it will be released in 2018, and that the title role will be played by talented indie darling Ezra Miller.

The Flash is of course part of the DC Comics Universe, and the character is part of the Justice League, meaning Miller could also appear in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Warner Bros. recently launched a TV version of The Flash on their CW network which has proven to be very popular, but it does not appear that there will be any overlap between the two projects, as the studio is looking to make the feature a standalone project with its own cast. The story of The Flash revolves around Barry Allen, a scientist who wakes from a coma to find that he has powers of super speed and super-fast reflexes.

Miller, who just turned 22, first grabbed attention with his performance as the troubled teenage son to Tilda Swinton’s character in 2011’s We Need to Talk About Kevin. The actor then played one of the leads in 2012’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, where he portrayed a gay teenage friend of Logan Lerman’s protagonist. He also had a role in this year’s little-seen Madame Bovary opposite Mia Wasikowska and Paul Giamatti. Interestingly, this would seem to mark the first time that an openly gay actor has been cast in the lead of a superhero movie – a realm long known as a heterosexual boys club. Perhaps we will one day look back at this casting as the much-needed breaking of a barrier, culturally. In a way, it’s not too dissimilar from African-America actor Michael B. Jordan being cast as The Torch – a character whom had always been white in comics and previous movies – in Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot.

No writer or director have been announced yet for The Flash, but we will bring you all the news as it breaks.