The Flash: Does Grant Gustin Appear in the Movie?
UPDATE: TVLine has since confirmed that Teddy Sears does not appear in The Flash movie, and was mistaken for a "generic representation" of the character in question. Our original story is as follows.
No superhero movie has had a journey to the big screen quite as unconventional as The Flash. The Ezra Miller-led film, which finally hits theaters this weekend, has been in and out of development since it was first announced in 2014 — an announcement that unintentionally coincided with the first few episodes of The CW's Grant Gustin-led The Flash TV show. In the years since, the trajectories of Miller and Gustin's Barry Allens have been talked about quite a lot, culminating in them sharing the screen during The CW's 2020's Crisis on Infinite Earths TV crossover. There has been speculation for years about whether or not Gustin's version of the character would appear in The Flash movie, and now we finally have our answer. Major spoilers for The Flash movie below! Only look if you want to know!
Surprisingly, Gustin does not reprise his role as Barry Allen in The Flash movie, with the film instead focusing on multiple versions of Miller's Barry across the DC multiverse. There is an unexpected appearance from someone tied to The Flash television show, though — Teddy Sears, who joined the show's second season as Jay Garrick, only to revealed to really be Hunter Zolomon / Zoom, is very briefly shown in the film. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Sears can be seen running in the Jay Garrick costume, in a universe tied to the George Reeves Superman of the 1950s serials.
Why is Grant Gustin not in The Flash movie?
The fact that Gustin doesn't return in The Flash movie is definitely bittersweet — on one hand, it adds a more definitive nature to The Flash TV show's recent series finale, which left Barry and his family on a very optimistic footing, but it also comes after years of speculation about the potential crossover. The Flash movie also doesn't make any clear reference to the appearance Miller's Barry made in Crisis on Infinite Earths, despite screenwriter Christina Hodson hinting as much in 2020.
"Of course, cause that would be too much of a surprise if I suddenly saw that on TV," Hodson told ComicBook.com at the time.
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The Flash movie is now playing exclusively in theaters.