The Flash star Grant Gustin would be open to being another superhero when he takes off his boots for good. The CW staple talked to Backstage about the possibility of hitting the stage again. Most fans of the show know that Gustin was trained in theater and remember him flashing those musical chops on The Flash. Well, for the actor, he would be open to that, but he also said he wouldn’t close the door on any further crime-fighting work. It’s not uncommon for people to take on other challenges after their time in the spandex. But, with nostalgia being the force it is in our culture, it’s hard to imagine a couple of those mainstays not finding their way back into the suit after an extended period away. (I mean just ask John Wesley Shipp about that. when the call came through, he answered the bell.)
Videos by ComicBook.com
“People assume I would never want to do something like [‘The Flash’] again, but, I’m open to that. I would play another superhero. If I was lucky enough to get to do that, or another genre-specific thing. I’ve always been attracted to sci-fi and the genre world,” he admitted. “Maybe this role will help open those types of doors for me, and I’m definitely down for that. I still haven’t made my Broadway debut, and that’s something that’s really important to me, that I would love to do. I just want to be onstage again. There’s nothing like that instant gratification of being onstage and that high that you feel performing in front of a live audience.”
The older Flash talked to Comicbook.com a few years ago about being able to stick around and find a new path as a mentor to Gustin.
“I tell people it took me 28 years to get a hundredth episode, and it only took Grant a little over four years, so I guess we all know who the fastest man alive is,” Shipp told us. “It still astounds me that one season of a show that we did 28 years ago still has this much resonance with the genre fans. I’m glad nobody told me 28 years ago. I might not have been able to go on. But from this side of having done it, watching everybody’s reaction, it makes my heart very full.”
“I’ll tell you, that is partly a gift of [the producers], in that they brought me back in a paternal role,” Shipp remembered. “I don’t think that it would have had the same resonance for me if I had come back as Jay Garrick. I’m not entirely certain, although I probably would have, done that right off. Jumping into another superhero suit on set with a bunch of 20-somethings, at my age all these years later, gave me pause. But there was something about hooking into Grant’s psychology from the very first episode. He knew that I was The Flash, and I knew, or had a guess at what his insecurities and hopes and dreams going forward might be. I was invited back and it caused me to invest in his success. I was always, from the minute it was announced, invested in his success because 24 years representing The Flash is a long time. But it caused me to invest in a very personal way, and I couldn’t be more delighted.”
What hero would you like to see Gustin play after The Flash? Let us know in the comments!
