Rick Cosnett Nearly Played Jay Garrick On CW's Flash

CBR

By Brandon Staley

Published Aug 30, 2016

Cosnett was originally slated to take on the role of the first Flash in the TV series, as during a panel at Heroes and Villains Fest.

With the third season of CW's "The Flash" television show hurtling at supersonic speeds towards its long-awaited multi-episode-spanning Flashpoint storyline, in which the CW's entire DC Comics universe will be turned on its head, it seems only appropriate that a mere month before the season premiere, we get details on yet another timeline that never came to be.

"The Flash" season one co-star Rick Cosnett revealed at Heroes and Villains Fest in San Jose that in the show's pilot, he was originally slated to play Jay Garrick. If that name sounds familiar, that's because Jay Garrick in the comics is, of course, the Golden Age Flash and Barry Allen's predecessor. If the show had stuck to its original plan, Cosnett would have played Garrick rather than the character he ended up playing, Eddie Thawne, a detective rising through the ranks in Central City.

Teddy Sears as Hunter Zolomon; Rick Cosnett as Eddie Thawne; John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick

While Cosnett would play Eddie Thawne throughout "Flash's" first season (as well as a guest starring spot in season two), the character Jay Garrick would appear throughout much of the show's second season -- played by two other actors. The role of Jay Garrick was first taken on by Teddy Sears, but only for a short time. Sears' character was eventually revealed to be Hunter Zolomon, the Earth-2 villain also known as Zoom that tormented Team Flash in the show's sophomore season. The role of Earth-2's true Jay Garrick was ultimately adopted by actor John Wesley Shipp at the end of season two; Shipp also played Earth-1's Henry Allen, father of the Flash Barry Allen.

Jay Garrick was the first superhero to hold the mantle of the Flash. The character debuted in 1940 with "Flash Comics" #1 in which he acquires the power to move at superhuman speeds after inhaling hard water vapors while on a smoke break. The character is a founding member of the Justice Society of America, an alternate reality version of the Justice League of America. Jay Garrick's future on "The Flash" TV show remains uncertain, while the Justice society of America is coming to "Flash" spinoff series "Legends of Tomorrow."

"The Flash" returns to CW for its third season on October 4, 2016.

(via TheArrowverse.com)