Warning: Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 6
Rumors about The Flash’s Impulse and XS getting their own Arrowverse show are ignoring an even better spinoff idea, which would tie into a recent tease about Jay Garrick’s past. The Flash season 8, episode 6, titled “Impulsive Excessive Disorder” shined the spotlight on Barry’s kids and their time travel shenanigans. The direction taken by the episode has fueled speculation that the two characters could get the spinoff treatment.
While “Impulsive Excessive Disorder” wasn’t the first episode where its protagonist took a backseat to other heroes, it was unusual for the series to focus so extensively on recurring characters. Neither Bart nor Nora are series regulars on The Flash. Due in large part to the show’s decision to devote an entire episode to their dynamic, there are now rumors that the Arrowverse is eyeing them for a potential spinoff. It’s been suggested that the episode may have been an attempt to gauge viewer interest in the possibility. It’s also an idea that’s received support from Jessica Parker Kennedy, who plays XS in the Arrowverse.
Talk about Bart and Nora taking on starring roles in an additional Arrowverse series from The CW is distracting from a more exciting spinoff idea. The same episode that generated these discussions dropped a big reveal that would be an exciting premise for a TV show. When discussing the perils of time travel, John Wesley Shipp’s Jay Garrick told Bart and Nora that he fought Nazis in World War II. A speedster going on adventures in the 1940s and battling the forces of the Third Reich is a concept packed with storytelling potential.
Jay’s remark that his exploits in World War II led to him spending 16 years “on and off” in the past indicated that this wasn’t a story that could be told in just a single episode of The Flash. To explore it fully, the Arrowverse would need to give the Crimson Comet a spinoff series. The Arrowverse already has a time travel show in the form of Legends of Tomorrow, but a show set primarily in the 1940s would make it a unique addition to the network’s Arrowverse lineup. Its story could revolve around what brought Jay to this time and the battles he experienced during his long stay.
Jay’s comic history suggests that a show that follows this idea could actually be a team-up series. The comic book character, as well as the version that Shipp plays in Stargirl, was a member of the Justice Society of America, who participated in World War II. If the same is true for Earth-Prime’s Jay Garrick in The Flash, that would make sense of why he remained in the past for so many years. He may have developed some camaraderie with the JSA and decided to make a like for himself there with the team. Which DC superheroes were on the team and what villains they fought are big questions that a Justice Society or Jay Garrick TV show could answer.
The Flash releases new episodes on Wednesdays on The CW.