Barry Allen (Arrowverse)

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Barry Allen
A New World, Part Four"
  • The Flash
  • May 24, 2023
    • Based on
    Adapted by
    Portrayed by
    Voiced by
    In-universe information
    Full nameBartholomew Henry Allen[1]
    Alias
    • "Flash"
    • "Reverse-Flash" (formerly; during Armageddon, Part 4)
    • "Red Streak"
    • "Scarlet Speedster"
    SpeciesMetahuman
    Occupation
    • Superhero
    • Forensic scientist of the Central City Police Department
    • Owner of
      S.T.A.R. Labs
    Affiliation
    • Team Flash
    • S.T.A.R. Labs
    • Central City Police Department
    • Paragons
    • Justice League
    Family
    • Nora Allen
      (mother)
    • Henry Allen
      (father)
    • Joe West (father-in-law)
    • Wally West
      (brother-in-law)
    • Jenna West (half-sister-in-law)
    SpouseIris West-Allen
    Children
    • Nora West-Allen
      (daughter)
    • Bart West-Allen
      (son)

    Barry Allen, (March 14, 1989 - April 26, 2023; resurrected April 26, 2023) also known by his alter ego The Flash, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2013 episode "The Scientist" of the television series Arrow, and later starring in The Flash. The character is based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino and was adapted for television in 2013 by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns. Grant Gustin portrayed Barry Allen, with Logan Williams and Liam Hughes portraying younger versions.

    In the series, Barry is 25 and portrayed as a smart, goofy and tardy character, who works at the Central City Police Department as a forensic chemist. When he was younger, he witnessed the murder of his

    Supergirl
    .

    Gustin appeared as Barry Allen and his superhero persona in crossovers on the television series Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and the animated web series Vixen, all set within the Arrowverse. The character has also appeared in a digital comic book series. Gustin received critical acclaim for his performance and won an IGN award.[2]

    Storylines

    Arrow

    Further information: Arrow (TV series)

    Crime-scene investigator Barry Allen was introduced in the

    S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator.[3]

    The Flash

    Further information: The Flash (2014 TV series)

    In

    Iris West
    .

    In

    Eddie Thawne
    sacrifices himself to destroy Eobard.

    In

    parallel earth who seeks to eliminate all speedsters throughout the multiverse
    . Barry discovers a recording of Eobard's confession of Nora's murder that clears his father of all charges, with Barry inheriting Wells's fortune and resources from Eobard. Though rich, Barry chooses to continue working for the Central City Police Department while using Wells's money to fund his and his allies's activities. After Zoom kills Henry, Barry defeats Zoom and travels back in time to save his mother's life.

    In

    Speed Force
    in order to repent for his creation of Flashpoint.

    In

    Nora West-Allen
    , Barry and Iris's daughter from the future.

    In

    Cicada
    , a serial killer bent on killing metahumans. Furthermore, the team eventually learn of Nora's allegiance with Eobard who orchestrated Nora's arrival and Cicada. Barry and Nora succeed in subduing Eobard, but are forced to let his nemesis go and Nora is erased from the timeline.

    In

    Eva McCulloch
    move forward with their mysterious plans. Barry later discovers that Oliver enhancing his speed during the crisis has damaged the Speed Force. As a result, the Speed Force dies and all speedsters will permanently lose their speed. Barry gets the idea to create an artificial Speed Force to save his speed.

    The seventh season sees Barry continue to develop an artificial Speed Force and finish his fight with Eva before dealing with the emergence of several new Forces, the Strength, Still and Sage forces, that were born by Barry and Iris recreating the Speed Force. Trouble soon ensues when the manifestation of the new Speed Force goes mad and begins to threaten the city but Barry is able to tame it. Soon after, the new speedster Godspeed arrives from the future to threaten Barry but he is joined by his future children, Nora and Bart West-Allen, to take the villain down.

    The

    Deathstorm
    who feeds on people's grief, and the rise of the Negative forces with Eobard as an avatar.

    The

    Cobalt Blue
    .

    Crossovers

    Further information: Arrowverse § Official crossover events

    In the

    Clark Kent / Superman after passing through an extradimensional breach while testing a tachyon accelerator. He teams up with Kara in order to take down Livewire and Silver Banshee
    , after which Kara assists him in returning to his universe.

    In the crossover "Crisis on Earth-X", Barry and Iris's friends come to Central City for their wedding, only to be interrupted when villains from Earth-X disrupt the proceedings. After defeating the invaders from Earth-X, Barry and Iris are married by John Diggle.

    In the crossover "Elseworlds", Arkham Asylum doctor John Deegan rewrites reality, which results in Barry and Oliver swapping lives. In the new reality, they are the only ones that know that they are in the wrong lives and have each other's powers, which results in them going to Gotham City with Kara to confront Deegan.[4][5]

    In the crossover "

    Earth-Prime
    , in memory of Oliver.

    In the season four episode "Dude, Where's My Gar?" of Titans, when Garfield "Gar" Logan / Beast Boy from Earth-9 travels the multiverse for the first time via the Red, he encounters a yellow flash zipping by. A portal opens, revealing Barry running through the Speed Force. Barry's lightning accidentally hits Gar and knocks him into Earth-2, where he briefly encounters Courtney Whitmore / Stargirl.

    Legacy

    Possible future

    In a possible future, Barry as the Flash is one of the several heroes remembered in the era called the "Age of Heroes".

    Sometime before 2032, the Flash Museum was built to honor Barry and Team Flash for their heroics. The museum included exhibits for Barry's old enemies; including Reverse-Flash, Zoom, Savitar, DeVoe and Cicada. Following Barry's disappearance in a future crisis an in a now-erased future, Barry's daughter, Nora West-Allen went to the Flash Museum on a regular basis to learn about her father who was never able to raise her.

    Costume

    Barry's suit is altered and upgraded every season. The suit is designed by

    Cisco Ramon and its original design was intended as a uniform for firefighters.[6] The suit was a modernised version of the traditional flash suit with a matching dark maroon colored helmet, which features the same maroon emblem and gold lightning symbol as the suit does.[7] The second season suit made minor changes to the suit, the alteration being the background color of the emblem is now white with a gold lightning symbol which is more true to the comics.[8] Besides the alteration of the emblem in season 2, there appears to only minor changes made throughout the three seasons.[9] The suit in season 4 appears to be a brighter red, with added leather paddings and golden accents.[10] The fifth season made one of the most significant changes, that is the removal of the chin strap and switching the fabric softer more body fitting look, created by Ryan Choi, in the future. The sixth season suit is fairly similar to the season 5 suit though now with gold piping along the torso and an entirely new cowl which features the return of the chinstrap as well as modified ear pieces designed to look more like the classic Hermes wings from the comics.[11]

    Relationships

    Iris West

    Barry and Iris's relationship has often been compared to Superman and Lois Lane, she is introduced as his one true love. Barry and Iris were close friends since they were 9 years old, and he had stated since the start that she was his first love since he met her. However, in a twist of fate Barry's mother is murdered and Iris's father steps in as his legal guardian due to her friendship with the young boy. After growing up he confesses his feelings however because of her commitment to her first boyfriend it takes a while before they can fully admit and assume their love. It is later shown that a newspaper article is written by Iris West-Allen in 2024, thus indicating their future romance and marriage.[12] Iris and Barry's relationship changes due to alterations of the timeline when Barry time travels, however, their love seems to always prevail and they are eventually married, Barry says in his wedding vows "That's you. You've always been there, as a friend, as a partner, as the love of my life. You're my home, Iris, and that's one thing that will never change.".[13] At the end of season 4 they are introduced to their first born, Nora. And because of the constant changes due to time travels they discover that they will eventually have another son, Bart.

    Linda Park

    Barry dates

    Iris West. Their relationship slowly dies out as she suspects him to still be in love with Iris, and also due to his general tardiness stemming from fighting crime as the Flash, they eventually break up and decide that they are better off as friends.[12]
    In the second season, Linda is targeted by her Earth-2 dopplegänger, Doctor Light, sent by Zoom to kill the Flash, prompting Barry to reveal his identity to Linda to enlist her help in capturing Zoom, finally revealing why their relationship did not work.

    Patty Spivot

    Barry and

    Patty Spivot begin dating in the second season, she was much like Barry with her quirky personality and sad past, which has caused them to dedicate their lives and careers to avenging and seeking the truth about their parents.[12] Patty made the decision to end the relationship because Barry was pushing her away emotionally, and she needed to attend Midway City University and study to become a CSI agent, which meant she had to leave Central City and consequently him.[14] Before leaving she had one final case with Barry, in which she tells Barry "I know you're upset but I was hoping it wouldn't be like this between us".[14]

    Other versions

    Versions from other Earths

    Savitar

    Gustin also portrays

    Zoom and Godspeed
    to defeat Team Flash for good on the Negative Speed Force's behalf, transporting the legion to the present day 2023 while providing them with additional negative speed. The legion and Team Flash fight to which Savitar targets XS out of spite for Iris avoiding his wrath, but XS defeats him and Savitar vanishes as his speed is consumed by Cobalt Blue.

    In other media

    Reception

    Critical response

    Regarding Gustin's debut as Barry Allen in Arrow and the potential for a series, IGN's Jesse Schedeen stated his concern: "Gustin doesn't come across as leading man material. His awkward bumbling intertwining with Felicity's was cute, but rarely did I get the impression that this character could or should be given his own spinoff series."[20] Schedeen eventually warmed up to the character, however, once the "dorkiness and social awkwardness" were downplayed a bit and the emphasis was placed on "his keen scientific mind".[21]

    Saturn Award for "Breakthrough Performance" and was nominated for "Best Actor on Television".[23][24][25] In the following year Gustin won the Teen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Sci-fi/Fantasy" and in 2017 and 2018 he took home the Teen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Action".[26][27][28]

    Gustin's Barry Allen has been said to be the better Flash, compared to Ezra Miller who starred in the Warner Bros. Justice League.[29] According to Nick Mangione from Geek.com, "By the time Ezra Miller made his brief cameo appearance in Batman v. Superman, we had already seen the perfect Barry Allen". He goes on to say "More than heart, more than a perfect embodiment of the character from the comics, Grant Gustin is the one true Barry Allen because his show allows him to be. At least at this point, the same can't be said for Miller and the DCEU."[29]

    While the first season received largely positive reviews, the later seasons received more mixed reviews. Erik Kain, a senior contributor on Forbes, indicated that "The first season of 'The Flash' on the CW remains one of my very favourite seasons of a superhero show. I maintain that it's among the best ever made, with great characters and one of the most intriguing villains on TV."[30] Kain, however, opined that the show has since gone downhill and that "Miller's Barry Allen is better in almost every way than Gustin's, though that's largely because he's not weighed down by CW melodrama."[30]

    Accolades

    All awards and nominations are for Grant Gustin's performance as Barry Allen in The Flash:

    Awards and nominations received by Grant Gustin
    Award Year Category Result Ref.
    Critics' Choice Super Awards 2021 Best Actor in a Superhero Series Nominated [31]
    2023 Best Actor in a Superhero Series Nominated [32]
    IGN Awards
    		 2014 Best TV Hero Won [33]
    2015 Best TV Hero Nominated [34]
    IGN People's Choice Awards
    		 2014 Best TV Hero Nominated [33]
    2015 Best TV Hero Won [34]
    Kids' Choice Awards 2015 Favorite TV Actor Nominated [35]
    2016 Favorite Male TV Star — Family Show Nominated [36]
    2018 Favorite TV Actor Nominated [37]
    2019 Favorite Male TV Star Nominated [38]
    MTV Movie & TV Awards 2017 Best Hero Nominated [39]
    2018 Best Hero Nominated [40]
    Poppy Awards
    		 2015 Best Actor, Drama Nominated [41]
    Saturn Awards 2015 Breakthrough Performance Won [42]
    Best Actor on Television Nominated [43]
    2016 Best Actor on Television Nominated [44]
    2017 Best Actor on Television Nominated [45]
    2019 Best Actor on a Television Series Nominated [46]
    2021 Best Actor on a Television Series Nominated [47]
    SFX Awards 2015 Best Actor Nominated [48]
    Teen Choice Awards 2015 Choice TV – Breakout Star Won [49]
    Choice TV – Chemistry (shared with Candice Patton) Nominated
    Choice TV – Liplock (shared with Candice Patton) Nominated
    2016 Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi Won [50]
    Choice TV: Chemistry (shared with Candice Patton) Nominated
    Choice TV: Liplock (shared with Candice Patton) Nominated
    2017 Choice Action TV Actor Won [51]
    Choice TV Villain Nominated
    2018 Choice Action TV Actor Won [52]
    Choice TV Ship (shared with Candice Patton) Nominated
    2019 Choice Action TV Actor Nominated [53]

    References

    1. Cause and Effect". The Flash. Season 3. Episode 21. May 9, 2017. The CW
      . I don't know what my name is, but my name's Bartholomew Henry Allen.
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