New images from Stargirl reveal the first look at John Wesley Shipp's return as The Flash, as well as a peek at the original Justice League Society. Shipp played Barry Allen/The Flash in The Flash TV series from 1990-1991 and then returned as a different version of the character for The Flash series on The CW. For that, he played two different versions, one of them as Henry Allen, The Flash's father and the other as Jay Garrick, an alternate universe version of the character. He has appeared as a variation of the character thus far on numerous Arrowverse shows, including The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Stargirl is based on the character created by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder and follows a girl named Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger), who discovers the cosmic staff and starts to form a new version of the Justice Society. The show has thus far debuted two seasons and co-stars Luke Wilson, Amy Smart, Yvette Montreal, Meg DeLacy, Cameron Gellman, Joel McHale and Louis Ferrigno Jr. Wilson's character, Pat Dugan, plays an original member of the Justice Society and mentor/sidekick to the young Stargirl.
Today, EW revealed new images of the original Justice Society, including the return of John Wesley Shipp's turn as the Jay Garrick version of The Flash. The events of Crisis on Infinite Earths has allowed him to reappear in Stargirl, which marks the first time that an Arrowverse character is crossing over with an HBO Max show. Shipp reprises the role for Stargirl season 2, episode 9, which finds Pat taking a stroll down memory lane of this time in the Justice Society. Take a look at the first look images below:
Shipp's The Flash will appear in a number of flashbacks in the episode, as Luke Wilson's Pat ventures into the past to confront painful memories, as well as his time spent with original Justice Society members. Those members include Sylvester Pemberton/Starman (Joel McHale), Johnny Thunder (Ethan Embry), Rex Tyler/Hourman (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), and Ted Grant/Wildcat (Brian Stapf). Johns says that fans will see more of the Justice Society in future episodes, which will take place in flashback.
Shipp's return for Stargirl is a cool one, if for no other reason than that he's the longest-running actor to play the character in live-action form. Shipp has certainly had other roles in his career, but return to the Scarlet Speedster is one that continues to reward both the actor and fans. His portrayal in the original '90s show was an unprecedented move for that time, as no other shows like it existed, so to have him carry that legacy across multiple shows is very impressive. Check him in the new episode of Stargirl when it airs on October 5th on HBO Max.
Source: EW