Suicide Squad‘s negative reviews didn’t intimidate Justice League cast members.

Suicide Squad might be a box-office hit, but the scathing reviews have left some uneasy about the future of the DC cinematic universe. Ezra Miller, who plays The Flash in the upcoming superhero team-up, said the negative reviews serve as motivation.

“You needn’t look any further than the ‘Suicide Squad’ director and cast response to the negative reviews to feel how negative critiques motivate us,” Miller told MTVNews. “Ultimately, we can’t base anything on [the critical response]. As artists, we aim to please absolutely everybody with our work, but we also know that we have to keep expressing ourselves as best as we can express ourselves.”

Miller won’t let reviews get in the way of his artistic process. It’s probably not encouraging for him to see DC’s three entries so far in its shared universe get increasingly woeful critical responses, but actors shouldn’t change their performance to specifically please critics.

Look what happened with Suicide Squad when editors tried to emulate Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The result was a messy, try-too-hard film. Yes, Justice League director Zack Snyder and Warner Brothers are making Justice League lighter in tone based partly based on response from critics and audiences alike. But that’s because Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — and Man of Steel before it — needed a course correction to fix its tonal issues. It’s not a decision exclusive to bad reviews.

Early looks at Justice League have left fans cautiously optimistic. As long as the actors, like Miller, are given a chance to showcase their ability in a fun role, fans shouldn’t worry that DC will try to meddle with the film further in order to get good reviews, as was reportedly the case with Suicide Squad. Let the movie and the cast’s performances speak for themselves.

[Comic Book Resources]

About Liam McGuire

Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com