The Flash star Hartley Sawyer says his Ralph Dibny will soon be ready for a love interest, which could see longtime comic book wife Sue Dibny introduced into the Arrowverse.
“We’re working our way towards [a love interest],” Sawyer told TV Guide.
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“He has to work on himself a little more before that really comes in, but he’s done a lot of work on himself. If that had come in last year, I mean how would that have turned out for him? He was not ready for anything like that. He’s sort of worked the kinks out of his system, where he’s going to be ready for that very, very soon. I’m excited for that.”
After the disgraced once-detective found himself endowed with superhuman abilities of elasticity following an exposure to dark matter that came about as result of Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) return from the Speed Force, Dibny began operating as flexible superhero the Elongated Man — a big step forward, Sawyer said, from his time as a “jackass.”
“I love how he’s progressed. The way he is now is sort of the way that I really saw the character being, but we wanted to start him where we started him last year so that we had all this space for him to grow and take him on this arc,” Sawyer explained.
“He didn’t have community, he didn’t have family before we met him on the show, and he’s very grateful to have that. I think that’s more important to him than anything.”
Sawyer added the dynamic between Ralph and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) will remain platonic, which could see the introduction of classic DC Comics character Sue Dibny (née Dearbon).
In comic book lore, Sue was a socialite who wed Ralph in a wedding that saw Barry act as best man. Sue later served as an administrator for the Justice League and often accompanied her superhero husband on his adventures.
Sue’s murder was the inciting incident of controversial 2004 crossover event Identity Crisis, which revealed Sue was once raped by super villain Doctor Light and that Jean Loring — the longtime primary love interest of Ralph’s fellow superhero the Atom — accidentally killed a newly pregnant Sue. In the Arrowverse, Loring is an attorney portrayed by Teryl Rothery.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
