Grant Gustin Teases THE FLASH's 'Reverse-Flash' And Connections To FLASHPOINT
Grant Gustin talks here about taking on the role of Barry Allen in The Flash, addressing his relationship with Candice Patton's Iris West, Felicity's (Emily Bett Rickards) visit to Central City, and his thoughts on how the series is tackling some of the elements from Flashpoint...
When Grant Gustin was cast as the titular hero in The Flash, there was some backlash from fans (when isn't that the case?), but that has changed somewhat since he appeared in Arrow. A leaked version of the pilot episode was also met very positively, as was its premiere at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter recently, Gustin was quick to address such criticisms. "If it had been a team of people that didn't know what they were doing, I probably wouldn't have gotten this role because they would have just cast a blonde guy who was buff. They were looking for somebody who encompassed the heart of Barry Allen and at first, I didn't realize I did. Now that I've explored the character, the comics, read the scripts and talked to [the producers], I understand why I got this role." While the Barry we currently know is a little younger and geekier than his comic book counterpart, Andrew Kreisberg told the site that, "By the end of the year, he will come to resemble The Flash that we know from the comic books." You have to wonder if that means that he'll be getting a new suit as well!
A big part of The CW series will of course be romance, but after waking up from his coma, Barry finds that Central City Detective Eddie Thawn is dating Iris West. "Barry doesn't have many friends. After the accident, Barry really wants to tell her how he feels. When he sees that she's with Eddie, it makes it clearer to Barry how he feels because of how it makes him feel to see her with somebody else." However, don't expect to see too much of the series focusing on this love triangle as the young hero will have his hands full developing his new identity. "He wants to save the day. He wants to be a hero. He wants to prevent any child from going through what he went through, so he's going to put that on his priority list before his love life. He's not going to get in the middle of anything Iris has going and break her and Eddie up. He's going to watch from the outside for now and hold off on telling her." Of course, another potential love interest for Barry is Felicity (Arrow's Emily Bett Rickards), and her appearance in episode four "does complicate things for Barry," the actor teased. However, doesn't she have a thing for a certain hooded hero? "We left their relationship on a weird note [on Arrow], but she's also in a weird predicament with Oliver where she clearly loves him. Barry and Felicity clearly have a lot in common but I don't know that any of those relationships are going to work out. At the same time, it's not something he can worry himself with too much right now."
