Grant Gustin is hard at work on his dream gig on Broadway with The Flash in his rearview window, but he's still finding time to connect with superhero fans off the stage. A video started circulating online that features the Barry Allen portrayer being asked whether he'd return to play his Arrowverse role now that James Gunn is running DC. The chances for such a thing are naturally slim, but I know exactly what I'd want to see if Gustin jumps back into his ring-encased suit.
It hasn't even been a full year since The Flash's series finale dropped on The CW, potentially opening the Speed Force door to spinoffs elsewhere, and fans haven't stopped asking Grant Gustin about potentially returning as The Flash in one way or another. His latest response to capture fans' attention (via Arrowverse.Canaries) was specifically to an inquiry about returning for James Gunn's in-development DCU, to which the actor replied with:
Yeah, if James Gunn asked me to play The Flash, I would do it. Yeah, I trust James Gunn.
Grant Gustin might love the glitz and glamour of Broadway, and may not be inherently enthusiastic about returning to tight, sweaty costumes and green screens, but it seems like there's still a part of him that misses being TV's fastest man alive. That interest could be entirely tied to working on any project with James Gunn, even outside the superhero genre, as I'm sure few actors in Hollywood would pass up that opportunity. But since Gunn is keeping busy with Superman: Legacy, Creature Commandos and more comic book fare, this would be the core way to work with him in the near future.
Gustin's Barry Deserves Some DC Multiverse Respect
As a fan of both Grant Gustin and the bulk of The Flash's run, I'd love to see his version of Barry Allen get an upgrade within the new DC universe at some point, even if it he's not part of the first wave of Superman: Legacy cast members. It doesn't have to be something massive, although it certainly could be.
On the one hand, I would at least like to see a situation where the Glee alum could reprise his role as Barry in a way that's wholly consistent with the show that brought the character to prominence, even if it's technically an alternate take that isn't canonical with the small screen series. Fans decried him getting snubbed by Andy Muschietti's 2023 film The Flash, especially after the TV show's creative went out of its way to include Ezra Miller for a scene in its "Crisis on Infinite Earths" arc.
Gustin's Barry Can Be The DCU's Cautionary Tale To Avoid Time Travel Plots
In a new DC universe that will be ripe with new stories, Grant Gustin's Barry Allen would be a great veteran to bring in to warn about the dangers of time-meddling. After all, he messed with time more than anyone else in the live-action and was a key person in the massive crossover event "Crisis On Infinite Earths."
It would be pretty easy to use that as a reason to bring him back into the DCU, as well as a great way to acknowledge everything that happened during the Arrowverse era without totally eradicating everything. Although if Gunn did decide to eliminate that entire block of canon, perhaps Gustin's Barry Allen could be the sole survivor of that timeline, serving as a warning against messing with time travel in any capacity.
The idea of Grant Gustin collaborating with James Gunn in DC is an interesting one, as we don't know what the status is of the Arrowverse in this brave new direction for the franchise. The Arrowverse will officially die with the conclusion of Superman & Lois, but it could always exist in another world in the multiverse.
Those with a Netflix subscription can check out Grant Gustin in The Flash. There are plenty of great episodes worth checking out, and all of them show in their own way that he's owed some sort of acknowledgment by the greater DC properties for his contributions, even if that acknowledgment never comes.
