There's a reason why 'The Flash' is telling more diverse stories now. The showrunner says he 'can't stand' when a show doesn't reflect the real world.
- Insider spoke to "The Flash" showrunner Eric Wallace and stars Danielle Nicolet and Kayla Compton.
- The cast and crew discussed how the show has been at the forefront of representation and diversity.
- Wallace spoke about the importance of having "fully realized, fleshed out, three-dimensional people."
Representation has always been at the forefront of "The Flash" since it premiered. But now with showrunner and executive producer Eric Wallace at the helm, the long-running CW series is finally showcasing more diverse characters and storylines in its seventh season.
"There are people watching this show of all ages, all races, all religions, all creeds," Wallace told Insider. "They need to know that Black women, people of color in general, there's more to us than just the one side you see all the time."
"We are fully realized, fleshed out, three-dimensional people. And the only way to really express that is to give them time to shine in the spotlight," he said.
The hit show centers on the adventures of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), who becomes the titular DC Comics superhero after a particular accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs explodes and he's struck by lightning. Barry vows to use his meta-human powers to protect the citizens of Central City by fighting crime with the help of his wife Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) and Team Flash.
Insider spoke to Wallace along with series regulars Danielle Nicolet (Cecile Horton) and Kayla Compton (Allegra Garcia) about "The Flash" bringing complex characters of color to the forefront.
'The Flash' challenged the status quo from the start when Patton was cast as leading lady and ace reporter, Iris
Casting Patton as a character whose comic-book counterpart is white was a controversial move at the time.
It was also a groundbreaking decision since few comic-book-based shows or movies had delved into Black people's stories, let alone Black women's stories. While Black women embraced her, diehard comic-book fans and racists took issue with the show straying from its source material.
But now, it's clear that Iris, and the love that she and Barry have for each other, is the anchor of the show.
"He could not be The Flash without her," Wallace said. "And I don't think that's being said explicitly enough. However, I would say keep watching and you just might get that explicitly."
Since the premiere of "The Flash," the Arrowverse has expanded to "Black Lightning," DC's first Black superhero to land his own show, and "Batwoman," currently starring Javicia Leslie as the first Black actress to portray the iconic vigilante.
Kiersey Clemons made her DC Extended Universe debut as Iris in "Zack Snyder's Justice League" and will reprise the role for an upcoming "Flash" movie, starring Ezra Miller as the titular character. And Ashleigh LaThrop voiced Iris in an animated film released in 2021 called "Justice Society: World War 2."
Team Citizen was created to showcase the strengths of the show's female characters
As much as "The Flash" is rooted in Barry and Iris' relationship, Wallace wanted to give Patton's character more independence.
Earlier in the show, Iris' role as a junior reporter at Central City Picture News was a minor storyline. But as "The Flash" continued and bigger villains came into play, her career became less prominent.
That changed when Wallace, then in his first season as a writer on the show, penned the season-four episode "Run, Iris, Run," which the writer called Iris' "turning point." Iris temporarily acquires Barry's speedster abilities and uses her newfound powers to save the city. But at the end of the episode, Iris realizes reporting is her calling and restarts the Central City Citizen blog.
"People think of it as the one where she gets speed," Wallace said. "I think of it as the one where she doubles down and declares her independence as a woman."
It's why Wallace delved into the formation of Team Citizen, an all-female group of reporters led by Iris, when he became the showrunner during season six.
The Flash already had his own group of crime fighters, but Iris, one of the few characters who's not a meta-human, didn't have a reporting team. When Wallace pitched the concept for Team Citizen in the writer's room, he knew he wanted these characters to have agency.
"They were like, 'What is that?' And I said, 'I'm not sure, but I know it's all women, all kick-ass, all doing their own thing, and it has nothing to do with The Flash unless their stories collide,'" Wallace recalled.
Rather than being defined by relationships, Iris, meta-human reporter Allegra Garcia (Compton), and photographer Kamilla Hwang (Victoria Park) follow leads and uncover corrupt activity in Central City. And, as Compton said, they're all "painted as such complicated characters" so they never fall victim to dated tropes.
Compton, who joined the show during season six as a reformed criminal and meta-human who can manipulate electromagnetic energy, said that the Team Citizen camaraderie is present off-screen, too.
"It was one of the moments I started to feel a part of 'The Flash' family," Compton said.
The formation of Team Citizen also paved the way for the Iris-centric second half of season six.
Wallace said that the Mirrorverse storyline, which was central to season six and detailed an alternative universe where people got trapped due to a mirror, pushed Iris to her limits and showed more of Patton's range as an actress. It wouldn't have been possible had the character not been given agency.
The current season is an extension of that, Wallace said, with Barry and Iris "coming together stronger than ever and finally, really being on the same page for once."
"Now we can have them ... be in more situations as a couple and you don't feel like it's a woman with her man," Wallace said. "I can't stand that."
"Last time I checked 51% of the population of the planet was female," he added. "That means any story told must reflect that world. And if it does not, you are not only doing a disservice to your audience, you're just being inaccurate, factually. And I don't accept that as a storyteller."
Nicolet and Compton's characters are being explored more deeply this season, and there's more to come
Heading into season six, Wallace realized that the network filming schedule was "exhausting" for the lead actors, so he began considering episodes that would provide "a good opportunity for them to get a little rest, but also open up the door to let supporting characters shine."
To see if a supporting character could successfully lead an entire episode, the writers experimented with season six's "Kiss Kiss Breach Breach," a noir episode focused on tech genius Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes).
The episode "proved the formula," leading to the exploration of newer Team Flash member Chester P. Runk (Brandon McKnight) in season seven. Wallace said that the episode, which gave insight into Chester's backstory and explored the father-son dynamic between Black men "was a highlight for us as writers."
Fans will also learn more about Allegra later in season seven in an episode that will "dig into her background" and tie up loose ends with the character's estranged meta-human cousin Esperanza Garcia/Ultraviolet (Alexa Barajas), Wallace said.
Similarly, viewers will see more of Nicolet's Cecile, who saved Central City through her meta-human abilities earlier in season seven. Wallace said that the episode, plus another Cecile-focused episode to come this season, allowed Nicolet to show more range and illustrate that her character is more than just a love interest for detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin).
"The old notion of damsels in distress doesn't really apply over here on 'The Flash' these days and I love it," Nicolet said. "I love playing a woman that doesn't need to be saved."
Nicolet, who was first introduced on season one and upped to a series regular beginning with season five, said that the evolution of Cecile was a long time coming. Nicolet teased season seven, episode 13 as a major episode for her character.
"It's an Emmy-winning performance, in my opinion," Wallace said of the episode. "It's a tour de force that just brought me to tears."
The episode was even more special for Nicolet because it speaks to the show developing complex characters of color and expanding their stories.
The actress said that the former kind of role stems from "the unspoken undercurrent, perhaps being like, 'Oh, we don't want you to be too intimidating. Nobody wants you to be the angry Black woman. Nobody wants you to be anything that someone might find disquieting.'"
Nicolet added that "none of that is on the table" thanks to her exceptional "showrunner, network and studio" that supports these storylines.
"We've not always been afforded opportunities to give characters layers," she said. "My character, especially this season, gets to explore periods of darkness. She gets to embrace her strength. She gets to not be tangential to a man. And this is something that is par for the course on our show for the women, particularly the women of color."
Given her past experiences in the industry, Nicolet is glad that on "The Flash," there's "no concern about us being objectionable in any way, just because we're Black."
It also helps that Compton's Allegra and Nicolet's Cecile are resonating with "Flash" fans. It's even more special to the actresses because they didn't feel represented growing up.
"It's beautiful to hear from my friends that they're starting to feel represented in a way that they hadn't before," Compton, whose character is Hispanic, said. "It's wonderful to see more and more shows adopt this really great standard of hiring people who make up the actual world. It should be normal and it's becoming normal."
Viewers have noted that the show has finally acknowledged the race of characters like Iris and integrated her identity into the series
It began when Patton wore her hair naturally during season six, episode five, as Barry and Iris went on a brief trip to Tahiti. She appeared with her natural hair in two brief scenes, but it was enough to resonate with fans who look like her.
The showrunner said that when he first suggested the idea to Patton, she was already on the same page as him.
Wallace said that it was "an empowering moment for the show" and told Patton that he was "on board" for her deciding how Iris wears her hair in future episodes.
"Now, we are exploring bringing that natural hair back again," he said, adding that it'd likely happen "sooner rather than later" and would hopefully be present in "a couple of full episodes."