When Barry Allen made the decision to give himself over to the Speed Force after a season of selfish behavior, obviously there was a focus on what would happen to Barry. But what about the people he was leaving behind, like Iris, Joe, and Wally?
We spoke with The Flash stars Jesse L. Martin and Keiynan Lonsdale at San Diego Comic-Con last month, where they talked about the impact of Barry’s absence on their characters, including Joe’s concern for his children and Wally’s growing up.
If there’s one thing you need to know about Joe West, it’s that he’s someone that always puts his family’s needs and well-being before his own. So while Joe is heartbroken over losing Barry, he’s even more concerned about how that’s going to affect his children, especially Iris.
“Obviously (he’s) devastated,” Martin said. “He’s also worried about the gang that is still there, particularly Wally and Iris. Iris lost her fiancé, and he’s very concerned about how she’s taking it all in. Wally also has to step up and be ‘The Flash,’ if you will, along with Cisco’s Vibe. We’re all still dealing with Metas in Central City so you kind of have to keep up appearances. But The Flash is definitely missed. So I’m doing a lot of emotional repairing, if you will.”
Watch our full interview with Martin below:
While Barry’s absence clearly has a significant impact on Team Flash, one of the things it’s forcing Wally to do is grow up a little more as he has to step up with Barry gone. It’s something that essentially takes the “kid” out of Kid Flash and show us how Wally’s evolving as a hero and as a person.
“Wally’s actually in a pretty good place,” Lonsdale said. “The whole team has had to step up and become a unit, and it’s sort of becoming a sort of well-oiled machine as much as they can without Barry. Kid Flash has found his place, and I think he’s been forced to grow up a lot more. He is enjoying that freedom and independence he has. Even if he’s making mistakes he’s finding the light in it.”
Watch our full interview with Lonsdale below:
The Flash season 4 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 8/7c on The CW.
Stay tuned for more The Flash interviews from SDCC!
