Hey, I’m SeanWeatherly and this is my first editorial up on ComicBookMovie, so go easy on me. After finishing “The Scientist”, I was really pleased with the interpretation of Barry Allen from Grant Gustin. It’s how I would imagine a young Barry Allen to be, prior to powers. A lot like a certain web-crawler, he’s awkward and a little uncertain with himself. Constantly late, smart, an obvious superhero fanboy and driven to solve his mother’s murder, the character is written well and portrayed correctly. Reflecting over the episode, I think Grant is the perfect person now to portray The Flash not only for television but the cinematic universe as well. Here’s my reasoning behind the choice.
Looking over some tweets during and after the episode, I noticed some people commenting on the awkwardness that they felt Grant brought. People were saying he lacked the big screen presence you can see in Stephen Amell and Manu Bennett. Personally, I think the character was intentionally portrayed to be awkward like this. Take a look at Spider-Man, for example. Peter Parker, prior to his powers, was nerdy, clumsy and as insecure as they come. Becoming Spider-Man gave him a noticeable shift in confidence as he began to save others and find himself. I feel like Barry Allen would do the same as he began to make use of his powers. Slowly, we would see Barry grow from insecure, young kid dropped into a super-powered world into a mature hero and role model to look up to. He’s not Oliver Queen, who spent five years on an island refining his skills and hardening himself as a person. Barry is a completely different person with a completely different path. And while this shaky, unsure version of Barry Allen wouldn’t fit in on the big screen with the likes of Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, Flash would have finished its first season by any movie release with Grant’s Flash. That’s plenty of time for the character to find himself and gain that confidence and presence we look for from the Flash
Another aspect I think that would benefit from connecting the TV and Movie Flash’s is the interactions we could have between Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin in a Justice League movie. While Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are well known as best friends in the DC Universe, Oliver Queen could be a nice alternative OR foil. We could replace Hal with Ollie, and the two be friends (and also allowing John Stewart to be GL, even though I would hate that), or they could maintain a solid rivalry. Having Oliver and Grant constantly trying to one-up each other in a movie while surrounded by “gods” like Superman and Wonder Woman would be a nice addition to the film and lead to not only some great sequences, but some comic relief. It would give the movie a great sense of continuity with a shared universe and provide something extra to the fans of the current television series. This could even work both ways and bring a ton of viewers back onto the shows following the movie.
One complaint I have heard is the differences in budget between the movie and the television series, creating much different displays for the Flash’s powers. I think this could either be counteracted by some great special effects work in the television series itself to bring to the movie, or they could simply just have two separate looks. I tend to view the movies and the TV series like two separate comic books with different artists. While the powers are the same, they’re simply displayed differently and can both be isolated, beautiful things in their own right. No one is going to turn away from a great show just because the running effects don’t look the same. And besides, if showing the Flash in a movie draws in enough viewers, there could be a big budget spike for the following season to bring it up to par.
So let me know what you all think in the comment section below. Do you think the DCCU and TV universe should be kept separate? What did you think of Gustin’s portrayal? Should I just destroy my computer and never write again? I look forward to reading all your comments, and getting some good discussion going.