The DCU has finally cast its first Flash character for a new HBO Max show. James Gunn's DCU has already offered up four movies and HBO Max shows, with many more projects on the way for heavy hitters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. And yet, the DCU is continuing to ignore one of the blue brand's most iconic superheroes: The Flash. While DC Studios has unveiled an Elseworlds iteration of the Scarlet Speedster, there is still no sign of him in the DCU beyond a deceased corpse in a vision of a potential future that was shown in Creature Commandos, where a giant ape had helped lay waste to Earth's heroes.
Deadline broke the news that American Vandal and Modern Family actor Jimmy Tatro is joining James Gunn's DCU debut as Gorilla Grodd, an infamous Flash villain who will play a starring role in the upcoming Jimmy Olsen series. The casting reunites Tatro with Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the creators of Netflix's American Vandal, in which he starred, and completes the search for an actor to put a comedic spin on Grodd for DC Studios' true-crime-inspired show.
Grodd will presumably be a CGI creation in the DCU, as he was in the Arrowverse, making Tatro's role a voiceover and possibly mo-cap one. Regardless, he stands as the first official casting for a Flash-related character in James Gunn's DCU.
The metahuman mural on display in Superman's Hall of Justice confirmed that one speedster, Max Mercury, exists in the DCU. However, Mercury has only appeared in artistic form and has no actor attached, nor does that seem likely to change.
The Suicide Squad notably featured one of the Flash's most iconic rogues in Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang, who was quickly slashed to death by a stray helicopter blade. However, Gunn has been clear that The Suicide Squad is only a "vague [memory" of the DCU's events, so it's not entirely clear whether Courtney's Boomerang and his gruesome fate are canon.
The untitled Jimmy Olsen series, which will study Gorilla Grodd through a documentary-like lens, is expected to begin production later this year, setting it up for a potential HBO Max premiere in late 2027 or early 2028 if all goes well.
The Flash's DCU Debut Prospects Look Bleak, To Say the Least
DCU fans will soon meet their first Flash villain in Jimmy Tatro's Gorilla Grodd, but that doesn't mean that the Scarlet Speedster is right around the corner. Unless DC Studios surprises audiences with a cameo from the speedy red streak, Grodd likely won't face any superheroes this time, merely Jimmy Olsen's investigative skills.
Introducing the Flash is no easy task for DC Studios, as the speedster is coming off a nine-season CW series that diminished in quality greatly in its latter years, and one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history in Ezra Miller's The Flash.
Both forms of The Flash have one major detail in common, as they similarly starred Barry Allen, but the DCU may be going in a different direction. Fans have generally reached a consensus that Allen won't be the DCU's Flash, with the younger Wally West expected to take the reins this time around.
The bizarre choice to introduce Gorilla Grodd before the Flash is a clear example of Gunn's unpredictability, which makes it hard to tell exactly when he will debut. While West or Allen could technically appear in the HBO series, any speedster action would undeniably steal focus from the leads, rendering that unlikely.
The DCU could take the Flash in a similar direction to Lanterns, with Allen being introduced as a veteran speedster, possibly in his 50s or 60s like Hal Jordan, who is nearing the end of his superhero career and mentors a young West.
That would allow the DCU to maintain the best friendship between Jordan and Barry Allen, even if it is Wally West's Flash and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart who carry the mantles forward into the inevitable Justice League team-up.
DC Studios is currently busy cooking up scripts for the DCU's Batman flick, The Brave and the Bold, and the Wonder Woman reboot, and it's tough to imagine other Leaguers like the Flash being a priority until the core Trinity is assembled.
As such, unless the Flash shows up in the Daily Planet-centric mockumentary, fans may be waiting a while to see any version of the speedster in the DCU. Since no upcoming projects have clear room for the fastest man alive, his debut may, sadly, be saved for a solo outing that may not be ready until beyond 2030.
However, if DC Studios can find it in its heart to revive the Teen Titans movie that Supergirl scribe Ana Nogueira was working on before jumping ship to the next Wonder Woman movie, there may be room for West's introduction in that ensemble, as he has been part of the youthful team as Kid Flash many times.
