Our own Alex Lynch (by way of his site Bludhaven Banter) has come across a couple of character descriptions for the upcoming CW take on The Flash. We saw Barry Allen make his debut on last night's episode of Arrow, but we know that when he gets the spotlight in his own series he'll be joined buy a couple of names familiar to comic readers: Iris and Detective West. What's immediately apparent from the below descriptions is that these versions of the characters will be African American.
IRIS - 22-28 - African-American - As smart as she is beautiful, Iris is in grad school studying psychology. She's also Barry's mile a minute, fast-talking, quick-witted best friend. Her father, Detective West, took in Barry when his mother was murdered, and his father was wrongly accused and imprisoned for her murder. In a tough childhood for Barry, she was the one "not tough" thing. She's unaware of Barry's strong feelings for her.
DETECTIVE WEST - Late 40s to Early 50s - African American -Detective West is an honest, blue-collar cop who's seen it all. A soulful, funny caring father to Iris, and a surrogate father to Barry, West came up through the foster system himself. He took in Barry after his mother's murder and his father's imprisonment. He believes in Barry and supports Barry's efforts to prove his father's innocence.
So a race change -- not uncommon these days, and surely not a big deal. Of course Iris West is Wally West's (another character to take up the Flash mantle) Aunt, so can we assume we'll also see him zip onto out screens at some point?