Media Blitz! Arrow Producer Talks ‘Flash’ Development, Casting

KSiteTV’s Flash-focused FlashTVNews.com has some new information about the casting and upcoming appearances of Barry Allen in second season of The CW’s Arrow.  Within, Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg goes into detail about the process of writing the role and the casting of Grant Gustin in the role of the man who will become The Scarlet Speedster!

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For a speed-run through the highlights, follow the jump!

On the differences between the characters of Barry (appearing in episodes 8, 9 and 20) and Oliver “Arrow” Queen:

“Barry’s such a different character from Oliver,” Kreisberg says. “Episodes 8 and 9 [of Arrow Season 2]… I just handed in 9… it’s been really interesting to write those, because you literally have those two characters in the same show. In some ways it actually may be easier because you can say ‘That’s something Oliver would say; it’s not something Barry would say. Barry has a very easy relationship with Felicity, because Barry is a forensic scientist, and he’s young, and he’s a little bit socially awkward like she is, so there’s a lot of fun with that.”

On the casting of Gustin vs. the development of Barry in the writing process:

“With Arrow, we wrote [the role] without anybody in mind,” he says. “This time, as we were writing these episodes, we cast Grant in the middle of it.” Met Grant early on. “We met with a lot of other really talented people. Not just talented, but good guys, and it was funny, because as each of us – Geoff [Johns] and Greg [Berlanti] and I — were working on individual scenes, we all sort of came together and said ‘we’re all writing Grant.’ It was just him.”

On the Arrow character’s in-show role in the genesis of The Flash:

“Barry’s a fanboy. He comes to Starling City and he says to Felicity, ‘so I heard the vigilante saved you. What’s he like?’ So I think for Barry, it’s one of those things where it’s sort of like ‘be careful what you wish for’,” he says.

On Flash as a bridge between the more real-world aspects of the show and the supernatural elements of the DC Universe:

“If you look at the Justice League, you have Superman and Aquaman and Wonder Woman. You have all these gods. And then you’ve got Barry Allen, who’s just a guy. That’s, I think, why the character appeals so much to Greg and to Geoff and to me, and it’s also why he’s a really good fit to the world of Arrow, because while we’re obviously introducing some fantastical concepts to things, we want to still keep the show as grounded and realistic as possible.”

For more, check out FlashTVNews.com!

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13 thoughts on “Media Blitz! Arrow Producer Talks ‘Flash’ Development, Casting

  1. Scarlet Speedster

    I’m glad they see Barry as a normal guy that happens to recieve this gifts & uses them to help people, not viewed as a god but one of us- that’s the way he should be-& he is a fanboy, I get that- he was reading a Jay Garrick Flash comic in his 1st appearance & he’s been shown as a big comic fan as a kid, which is very appealing to comic fans like ourselves- but being a Green Arrow fanboy? Of all the heroes to inspire Barry he would be last on my list. Especially Arrow’s vigilante incarnation. Even Batman would come closer because of his forensic skill, or Supes because of his morality. Of course, in comics its always been Jay Garrick that’s his inspiration- it would be awesome if they showed him reading a Jay Flash comic before the accident, just like in Showcase #56, just a lil’ nod. But I know they probably won’t- still would be awesome though. These thoughts aside, gonna reserve my judgments til I see the finished product.

    Reply
    1. Kyer

      Sigh* The more I read the less interested in this I’m becoming. Of course I’m also dead apathetic to the whole Villains Month turns Evil Empire thing going on within the DC books and am holding onto my fandom by the tips of my fingers. 😀
      Any DCU Flash/JL/JLA trades coming out? ( I miss the updates we used to get from Kelson.)

      Reply
    2. MisterNefarious

      Maybe I’m misreading, but that’s not quite what I think they are saying.
      I don’t think they are saying Green Arrow was his inspiration, rather that he has this curiosity and passion for heroes. He wants to know “what he’s like” because maybe he’s piecing together the man and the myth.

      I imagine he won’t really be all excited about Ollie killing people when he does, and they’ve even said that’s a level of conflict between the two…
      So yeah, I’m hoping for the Jay Garrick direct inspiration for the name/costume, but it seems like Ollie is the first “real world” super hero in this show, so Ollie is sort of a push.

      Like how Kick Ass inspired Big Daddy and Hit Girl to become heroes 😉

      Reply
      1. Scarlet Speedster

        You have a point- especially considering Barry’s inquisitive nature, he may be just fascinated with this costumed archer, the man behind the hood & his motivations. And you’re right, Kreisberg talked about the two being different & conflicting a bit. I do hope that’s the way things are gonna be, anyway. As long as Barry’s motivations & character is right, that’s what matters. But like I said, gonna reserve my opinions til I see the show itself.

        Reply
  2. Diego Calazans

    I really really really REALLY would love to see Barry reading an old Jay comic in his first appearance. I don’t know if they’re gonna do this, but I’d love to see. And I suppose he’s been shown as a geek who loves comics and sci-fi plots. This would be great. Barry Allen is kind of a grown-up Peter Parker that appeared a decade before Peter Parker. I hope they make him as loveable as we all know he can be.

    Reply
    1. MisterNefarious

      I would like all this as well. I really hope he gets his name and costume concept from a comic, but ill accept anything similar like an old tv show, movie, radio drama. Something that shows his fascination with super heroes off

      Reply
      1. Scarlet Speedster

        Definitely, like maybe have him looking at one of the old pulp magazines or something- though an old Jay comic as we talked about would be ideal, or at least a similarly-designed hero. One poster mentioned Jay being called “Joe Cyclone” in another country, maybe that could be used if Jay couldn’t be used for whatever reason, though I don’t see why they couldn’t use him. Even the ’90s show had this hero inspiration thing with Nightshade, who was like a pulp hero. And like the Geey Ghost for Bruce in the Batman animated series. I agree that one of the things that makes Barry great is that he’s a bit of a geek, & a fan, just like us. That makes him infinitely relatable. Sometimes I hope that people involved with the show see what we’re talking about on this site- like this very conversation- & see what we want & use it. But maybe that’s an overly-optimistic fancy of mine.

        Reply
        1. Diego Calazans

          I was the one who said this about Jay. Here in Brazil we always knew him as Joel Ciclone, something like Joe Cyclone. Since the New 52, he was properly renamed as the [Earth Two] Flash. Of course we all always knew he was the first Flash, but when we hear “The Flash”, we never think of Jay.

          Reply
          1. Scarlet Speedster

            Oh I remembered seeing it in a post, but couldn’t remember who the poster was. I’m glad you told me the origins behind it though, to see how characters can be seen in different ways around the world. Now I have a new Flash-Fact to share with people! Are there any other famous characters with interesting alternative names in Brazil? Anyway, I thought that would be kind of a cool alternative name for Jay if, for whatever reason, they wouldn’t let them use his name(though as I said before, I can’t see why they wouldn’t, but you never know).

            Reply
            1. Diego Calazans

              Here Firestorm is named Nuclear, because Firestorm in portuguese would be “Tempestade de Fogo” and that is a long and ridiculous name to a hero. Atom here is Elektron (don’t ask me why). Martian Manhunter was known for decades as Ajax (after the warrior from Homer’s Iliad) and renamed properly some decades ago. The majority of names are translations of the original or we keep the original. Batman, for instance, is Batman, and no “Homem Morcego” as it’d be if we translated. Spider-Man is “Homem Aranha” here; a literal translation of the original name. “The Flash” is just Flash. In portuguese it’s ridiculous to use the article before the name of the hero all the time. Oh… and before I forget… Justice League of America, the original series, was usually translated as Liga da Justiça (Justice League). “America” is translated as Estados Unidos (United States) once America is the name of the continent, not the country. We have lots of jokes on this thing of naming US as “America”. =)

              Reply
    1. Scarlet Speedster

      You’re right, he is a brilliant forensic scientist- but like many of us, that’s the field he excels in, that leads to his chosen profession. But there’s always been an everyman quality about him as well. Alot of fans are drawn to the fact that he is a comic fan, like us- & I’m a science buff myself, so I find that relatable too. And his nice-guy personality, his optimism- these are all things that make him relatable, “one of us”. The fact that he is a skilled forensic scientist at such a young age is inspiring in itself, that he earned it not through superhuman ability, but dedication to his field. Something we can all do if we apply ourselves to a field we’re passionate about.

      Reply

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