Why Justice League's Flash Looks So Familiar

He's the Flash, the fastest man alive. And just to be clear, we're not talking about Grant Gustin. Instead, we're talking about the wisecracking outsider from Justice League, the guy who joined up with Batman and Wonder Woman because he needs friends. Fans of the DC Extended Universe know that this Barry Allen was a highlight of the Justice League film, and they can't wait to see him in action in his own movie. But we all have one big question about this Scarlet Speedster...where have we seen him before?

The man behind the mask is Ezra Miller, and over the past few years, he's made quite a name for himself, playing characters ranging from an eccentric high school student to an ice cold killer. He's starred with the likes of Tilda Swinton and Emma Stone, but if you're still not sure where you've seen him before, then hang on as we race into the past and find out why Justice League's Flash looks so familiar.

In 2008, Miller made his cinematic debut in Afterschool, playing a private school student who accidentally films the deaths of two young girls. However, in Miller's next movie, City Island, the actor got to work with recognizable names like Andy Garcia, Emily Mortimer, and Alan Arkin.

Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta, the 2009 comedy focuses on a dysfunctional New York family that's keeping more secrets than the CIA. The dad (Garcia) is a correctional officer who's secretly taking acting classes when he meets his long lost son (Steven Strait) in prison. His daughter (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) has lost her college scholarship and now works as stripper to afford tuition. And as for Miller, he plays the smart-aleck younger brother, Vinny, a quintessential cutup who's constantly skipping class and always has a snarky comeback at the ready.

Just like the rest of his family, Vinny has his own little secrets. In addition to a smoking habit, Vinny fantasizes about feeding overweight women. He's got a crush on a plus-sized girl at school, and he's obsessed with his obese neighbor, going so far as to spy through her window while she prepares food for a diehard internet audience. Eventually, Vinny befriends his overweight neighbor and gets together with his classmate, all while the rest of his family gets into a screaming match on the street before finally admitting all their lies.

In part thanks to Miller's performance, City Island picked up the Tribeca Film Festival's Heineken Audience Award, and the movie helped cement Miller's reputation as a young actor to watch.

Directed by Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a devastating gut-punch of a movie, featuring the inimitable Tilda Swinton in one of her finest performances. Playing Eva Khatchadourian, Swinton is a woman that strangers stare at on the street. She's an object of hate and anger, and she seems to be a regular victim of assault and vandalism. As Roger Ebert put it, Eva "looks like she's in a state of shock" as she's often lost in a haze of wine and medication. But what drove her to the absolute edge of her sanity?

In a breakout performance, Ezra Miller plays Eva's sociopathic teenage son, Kevin. As we learn via a fractured timeline, Eva and Kevin have never gotten along. Even as a young boy (played by Rocky Duer and Jasper Newell at different stages in life), Kevin has always hated his mom, and he's done his best to make her life hell. As Ebert puts it, Kevin is "an instinctive sadist with a gift for knowing how to wound her, reject her, deceive her, and make her soul bleed." And as little Kevin grows into a teenager, he becomes more and more violent. Even worse, it seems like Eva is the only one who can see through his manipulative charm.

Of course, there might be a reason for that, as Eva isn't exactly a world-class mom. Throughout the film, we see her actively resenting her son, telling an infant Kevin that she was happier before he was born. At one point, she grows so frustrated that she breaks his arm. Feeding off her resentment, Kevin has turned into a monster armed with a bow, and after years of playing cat-and-mouse with his mom, Kevin has decided it's finally time to put on a show for a bigger audience. With their characters locked in a horrifying hate-hate relationship, Swinton and Miller brought their acting A games to the table, and by the time the credits rolled, everybody in Hollywood was talking about Ezra Miller.

The reviews weren't especially kind to Sophie Barthes's Madame Bovary, although critic Christy Lemire admitted the film was "never less than lovely to look at." Of course, the movie had a whole to live up to, as it's based on one of the most famous novels ever written. Still, it's impossible to deny the film has a talented cast, including Mia Wasikowska, Paul Giamatti, Logan Marshall-Green, and Rhys Ifans. And then, of course, there's Ezra Miller playing a young man hoping to win the heroine's affections, even if she is inconveniently married.

As indicated by the title, the film focuses on a young bride named Madame Bovary (Wasikowska) who marries a dull country doctor and quickly realizes she's not cut out for provincial life. Worried her future is "just a dark corridor with a bolted door at the end," Bovary desperately tries to escape her suffocating circumstances by purchasing expensive items she can't afford and conducting a couple of affairs. One of her lovers is a law clerk named Leon Dupuis (Miller), described as "the last romantic left in all of France." After having his initial advances rebuffed, Leon and Bovary eventually hook up, but this relationship isn't meant to last, and Leon cuts things off when Bovary puts his job and social standing in jeopardy.

Interestingly, her other main squeeze is Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Jackson "Montana" Brice in Spider-Man: Homecoming. So basically, Wasikowska gets the best of both worlds, jumping back and forth between a Marvel villain and a DC superhero.

Cinema is full of awkward movie love scenes, but they don't get any more uncomfortable than the kinky one-night stand in Trainwreck. Directed by Judd Apatow, the film follows a commitment-phobic journalist named Amy (Amy Schumer) who enjoys a libertine lifestyle and claims monogamy isn't realistic. However, her tune starts changing after she meets a sports doctor played by Bill Hader. Of course, this is a rom-com, which means the two lovebirds momentarily split up after hitting a rocky patch in their relationship. Devastated and drunk, Amy eventually decides to spend the night with her intern, Donald (Miller), and that's where things take a really bizarre turn.

After sharing the most awkward kisses ever caught on camera, Donald starts making some freaky moves. He snorts Adderall off her forehead, tells Amy his safe word is "pineapple," and then insists she sock him in the face. But the night comes to an early end when Donald's mom bursts into the room and informs Amy her kid is only 16. Yeah, the whole scene is incredibly weird, but Miller is absolutely hilarious as a horny teen with no clue what he's doing. Talking to Vulture, Schumer described the scene, saying, "I've never seen two people have less chemistry. I love that, though! The horrible dissonance that it causes just when you see the two of us going in to kiss, you're just like, 'Nooooo!'"

In addition to the crazy sex scene, Trainwreck reunited Miller with his We Need to Talk About Kevin mom, Tilda Swinton. Fortunately, there's way less guinea pig murder this time around.

Whether he's playing a sociopath or a superhero, Ezra Miller is always good for a sarcastic comment or a biting one-liner. And that's why his portrayal of Credence Barebone is so unusual. After all, most Miller characters exude some level of confidence, but the pale-faced Second Salemer always looks like he's about to break down crying. Of course, if you lived with Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), you'd probably feel pretty miserable too.

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Barebones lead an organization called the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a group dedicated to ridding the world of witchcraft. Mary Lou, the zealot running the show, uses a small army of children to pass out flyers supporting her cause. She's also adopted three children, the oldest of whom is Credence, and tragically, he's regularly subjected to beatings at Mary Lou's hand. So that might explain why he's so eager to work with Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), head of MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hoping to escape Mary Lou's clutches, Credence agrees to help Graves find a particular child with incredible powers, and in exchange, Graves promises to rescue him and instruct the young man in the wizarding ways.

Tragically, Credence's plans don't exactly pan out, and we soon discover there's more to this guy than meets the eye. As for Miller, the actor has been a J.K. Rowling fan since age seven, when his dad started reading him the Harry Potter series. Getting to play a part in the franchise must've been a dream come true, although getting such an awful haircut probably wasn't much fun. Still, Miller knew the bowl cut "was the perfect way to express the reality of this character," and even though he had to part with his "really long hair," he agreed the look was "just perfect for [Credence]."

Really, Miller's performance as Barebone allowed the actor to explore his quieter, shy side, and when you compare this withdrawn character to the monstrous Kevin or the cocky Flash, it's a pretty great reminder that Ezra Miller is an insanely talented actor who seems likely to keep amazing us for years to come.