The end of The Flash came and went after nearly a decade on television. The Arrowverse series has been ambitious in its storytelling and visual effects, using fully CGI characters on a television budget. It also has heart, showing the main characters' capacity for love and compassion as a superpower. Yet the greatest gift The Flash gave DC Comics fans was the return of John Wesley Shipp -- the first actor to play Barry Allen in a regular TV series.
Rod Haase originally played The Flash in Legends of the Superheroes, two 1979 television comedy specials. The Flash debuted in 1990, featuring special effects that were state of the art at the time, but paled compared to CW standards. It was the actor in the super-suit who made the series live on long beyond its single season. Shipp was cast as Barry Allen, and it was on his performance to make the series work. To see him return in the current Flash series was monumental. His casting happened because of his history with the character, yet his role(s) on the series expanded because of the talent and heart he brought to a series stacked with both.
John Wesley Shipp Became an Indispensable Member of the Cast
The 1990 series was a bright spot for Flash fans in an era where quality superhero live-action storytelling was scarce. When the Scarlet Speedster raced back onto a broadcast network in 2014, the character got his second chance. However, prolific DC producer Greg Berlanti and company had the foresight to pay homage to the original by casting Shipp as Barry's father Henry Allen. It proved to be one of the smartest things they ever did, paying off repeatedly over multiple seasons.
In an interview with Michael Rosenbaum -- a DCTV veteran himself as Lex Luthor in Smallville and co-host of a Smallville rewatch podcast -- Shipp said his early scenes with Gustin remain some of his favorites. On its face, the dialogue was that of a father guiding his son while letting him know he's loved. But to fans, it was the old Flash talking to the new Flash, the emotional center of the most prolific and consistent live-action DC Universe. It even felt like Shipp talking to Gustin about the lifelong honor and grueling challenge of being a live-action superhero on a broadcast schedule. The character of Henry was enriched by Shipp's deep history with the Flash.
Later, Shipp got to suit up again in a more comfortable uniform. He played Jay Garrick -- a multiversal distant cousin of the Golden Age Flash -- in The Flash as well as Stargirl. Tonally, the scenes with Jay and Barry were the same as the scenes with Henry. Yet, in this case, Jay can speak more directly about the experience of being a speedster. A scene in Season 3, Episode 2, "Paradox" featured Jay explaining the problems with time travel to Barry -- and it worked on all the previous subtextual layers. Was the Flash talking to the Flash, or was the veteran character actor giving the series lead advice about managing regret and roads not taken in an acting career? For fans unaware of all this history, the weight of it is visible in Shipp's performance. Yet, the storytellers weren't done honoring the original Barry Allen just yet.
The Original Barry Allen Returned and Died a Hero's Death
During the "Elseworlds" crossover in 2018, Shipp suited up as the 1990 Flash once again. The scene showed the end of a massive battle, suggesting that in this universe, the Justice League formed and fell. The return of his version of the character was unexpected -- and more than yet another homage to the groundbreaking show. In the comic version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the death of Barry Allen was a pivotal moment. The character stayed gone for 23 years in the books. A huge tease in the final scene of The Flash pilot episode was a future newspaper headline reading "The Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crisis."
In the TV version of the same storyline, Barry Allen did die saving the universe -- but it was John Wesley Shipp in the suit. Using a new power in which he temporarily siphoned younger Barry's speed, older Barry zipped onto the Cosmic Treadmill (another fun comics Easter Egg) and ran himself to death. During this scene, footage of Shipp's Allen and Amanda Pays' Tina McGee hearken back to their romance in the 1990 series. Kids who watched this first iteration of The Flash, now knocking on the door of middle age, finally got the closure the original series was denied. In The Flash series finale, the actor again suits up as Garrick, but no closure is needed. He, along with Barry's Flash, Nora's XS and all the other new speedsters, can run on in fans' imaginations forever.
During his conversation with Rosenbaum, Shipp revealed he didn't want to audition for The Flash the first time around. In 1989, playing a superhero was a huge career risk rather than the boon it is today. Thankfully, the script enticed him enough to take the role. Playing one of these characters ensconces both the character and actor in the hearts of entire generations. As important as Grant Gustin is to DC, Shipp is also the Flash for at least two very grateful generations.
The Flash Season 9 premieres in 2023 on The CW.