John Wesley Shipp Describes Barry's Relationship to Jay Garrick in The Flash

09/30/2016 03:51 pm EDT

When Jay Garrick first arrived on the scene in the season two premiere of The Flash, his relationship with Barry Allen didn't immediately shift into teamwork mode.

Barry, burned by a false "mentor" in season one, didn't trust Jay and set about trying to verify his wild stories about a mutiverse. While Jay eventually became a valued member of Team Flash, Barry's skepticism later turned out to have been pretty well-founded. Eventually, "Jay" turned out to be Hunter Zolomon, the villain known as Zoom, and before he could be apprehended, he killed Barry's father, Henry Allen.

That doesn't take John Wesley Shipp, who played Henry for two seasons, out of the mix entirely, though. Shipp, who played Barry Allen in the 1990 version of The Flash, showed up in the season finale as the true Jay Garrick, who had been held in an identity-concealing iron mask all season long as a prisoner of Zoom's.

Promotional photos have revealed that Barry and Jay will work together in the second episode of the upcoming third season, but during an interview with ComicBook.com, Shipp revealed that Jay might be an alternate Earth's version of Henry Allen, but he's not the same guy -- especially as it pertains to his relationship with Barry.

"Where [Henry] would be very nurturing, Barry would come to him when he wanted to be vulnerable, Jay doesn't know from that," Shipp told ComicBook.com. "Jay knows that right here and right now, you want to be a superhero. Okay, it's big boy rules. I look like your dad, sorry about that. Jay does not have any emotional investment in Barry, does he? He has an emotional investment in the Speed Force and in maintaining his legacy and making sure this kid doesn't screw it up."

Describing the relationship as "a very different temperature" from the warmth demonstrated by Henry in the first two seasons, Shipp said that his version of Jay (the fake one was played by Teddy Sears) almost has more in common with the version of Barry he played in 1990 -- but aged up 25 years -- than he does with Henry.

"Whereas Barry did and would lay his head on Henry's shoulder, there's none of that. Hey may have the impulse, but he's not going to get that from Jay," Shipp said. "Jay's like 'Man up. This is what the deal is, and I don't want you screwing it up. I've been where you are and here's the dangers.'"

Shipp told us that as Henry Allen, he channeled his own feelings about Grant Gustin and the rebooted series, saying that the support Henry showed Barry flowed from his own feelings of wanting Gustin -- and the series -- to succeed.

"Now it's a whole new thing," Shipp said. "I'm playing a character that's skeptical. The jury is out; I don't know what his motivations are. Is he interested in being a superhero, or is he interested in jerking things around to suit his own emotions and temperament every time something doesn't happen the way he wants it to?"

He'll find out soon; Shipp's first episode of The Flash season two airs in less than two weeks.

Supergirl airs on Mondays at 8 p.m.; The Flash on Tuesdays at the same time, Arrow on Wednesdays, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Thursdays. The Flash will debut its new episodes on The CW starting October 4; Arrow, October 5; Supergirl, October 10; and DC's Legends of Tomorrow October 13.

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