Setting up the TV pilot for a Flash TV series, The CW appear to have cast actor Grant Gustin – best known for his roles on Broadway and on Glee – as Barry Allen. The character will appear in three episodes of the second season of Arrow, before heading off to a pilot for a show of his own.

gustin

The three-episode arc of Arrow, during which hopefully Diggle will raise an intrigued eyebrow at the thought of a super-speed character showing up, will be written by showrunners Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, along with producer/writer Geoff Johns. Say, that name sounds familar…

Gustin, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, understandably commented:

I’m unbelievably excited. I’ve been a lifelong fan of DC Comics, so I can’t be more honored and can’t wait to get started.

And on his Twitter yesterday, he left the following message:

Which, now, has been proven untrue. Ha! I hope you clapped your hands in applause after reading that amazing, ridiculously researched joke.

So…. if there’s to be a Flash TV show AND a Flash movie, does that mean we’re getting Barry in one… and Wally in the other? Or are we going to have simultaneous Barrys on our hands?

15 COMMENTS

  1. I would have preferred a Barry Allen that looked like a MAN…not a 13 year old fresh off summer camp and ready for his first day of Junior High…..geeez.

    Does no one respect the viewer who has been reading comics and watching shows like this for more than a decade? When we were kids we didn’t have to have an extremely young face on the character so we could “relate to them”….which is the most overused, under thought out term in the media and entertainment industry today….think of the key demographic….18 to 49…..there is a hug difference there between what appeals to the first half of that demographic and what appeals to the second half yet they go out of there way to cast an extremely young face in almost all of these key roles….
    Thank god this wasn’t the norm in the late 70’s or Lynda Carter and Christopher Reeve would have never been cast. They were both reasonably young (Carter 24, Reeve 28) but they didn’t look like fresh faced teens who just hoped off the bus….they looked like ADULTS.

    So…Barry Allen is a cop…and a scientist. Does the kid in the picture above look like he can pass for either???

    Man….I despise focus groups and marketing people…they kill everything with numbers and formulas.

  2. Probably because DC superhero comics are traditionally for children and they want to create a new generation of fans.

  3. Thomas Wayne: grant gustin is 23. One year younger than Lynda Carter was when she played Wonder Woman. He is NOT a kid.

  4. Jacob … yes, but portraying their superheroes as adults always appealed to children in the past. No reason why it cant work again.

  5. Actors age, superheroes don’t. If they hire a 35 year old, the Flash might be moving a little slower in the later seasons.

  6. Actors age, but very slowly. They jam themselves full of steroids and shit, look at how jacked that old freak Stallone is.

  7. Haha you folks realize this show is on the CW right? If you’re complaining Gustin looks too young you are NOT the target demo, pure and simple.

  8. I was thinking he didn’t look much like Barry Allen, but maybe I’m just being thrown by the brown hair. I’ll give him a chance.

    And since the Flash episode of ARROW is supposed to be a back door pilot, I’m pretty sure that means it’s going to be the same actor playing the same Flash.

  9. Warner Brothers doesn’t seem to be barely able to get it’s live action movies off the ground, but CW sure knows how to keep the live action tv shows going.

  10. http://screenrant.com/arrow-tv-show-ratings/

    “The CW set their sights high with their new edgy anti-hero drama Arrow – and it turns out the emerald archer hit the bull’s eye by pulling in the highest ratings the network has seen in three years. Arrow’s debut drew in over 4 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which the network hasn’t seen since the premiere of Vampire Diaries back in 2009.”

    The older fanboys will watch it. The target demographic is the one which buys stuff. Which twitters and facebooks and tumbles and blogs.

    And you know what? It doesn’t hurt to have a sexy, sleek, SMART superhero which appeals to women. One who is a bit clumsy around women. Hopefully they’ll use a bit more science, and less slobber-knocker action.

  11. I like this choice…..not too big a “name”, so we don’t have to worry about negotiations or leaving to do movies, etc.
    I’m not a Glee fan, but what’ve I’ve seen of Gustin….he is a decent actor who I believe can play the part with a lot of positive enthusiasm, which is how The Flash needs to be!

  12. Common Sense:

    I didn’t say he was a kid…I SAID HE LOOKED LIKE A KID… big difference…that was my point…Chris Reeve and Lynda Carter didn’t look like kids….so why not find a 23 year old who looks 23….or 26…..just avoid a 23 year old who looks 14.

    The kid they cast looks like a stunt double for One Direction….the fantasy of every 12 year old girl out there…not exactly what one wishes (at least me as a comics fan) to see when Barry Allen is involved.

  13. Thomas Wayne, I couldn’t agree more. If the story was that he was in 5th grade, fine, I’m sure this kid would be great. But Johns said he would be a police scientist, like Barry Allen in the comics. I don’t think I’ve ever met a police scientist, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have acne. This is weird, but I do like Arrow so far, so maybe it will work. The producers have earned a bit of trust from me.

  14. Lets not get crazy, he looks like 18-20 years old, which is too young for being detective+forsenic. But he doesnt look like 14 old either.

    And lots depends on makeup/camera, this photo might have been made on purpose to look very young while tv show wont do that.

  15. I remember when thirtysomething was on the air, and I thought to myself, “who wants to watch a show about all these old people?”

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