As The Flash is back with its fifth season, actor Grant Gustin, who plays the lead Barry Allen, talks about what the audience could expect from this superhero series
In the season four finale, Nora [Jessica Parker Kennedy] revealed that she was the daughter of Barry and Iris [Candice Patton]. How does the couple react to their new family member in season five?
Barry and Iris have different reactions to Nora. Iris is really excited that they have a seemingly amazing kid. She wants to get to know Nora and connect with her before they send her back home. Barry thinks about why is she here? Why did she time travel? I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t have told her not to do that. He’s a little worried.
Why didn’t Barry teach his daughter about the danger of messing with the timeline?
That’s an interesting question. It poses some other questions as well, ‘Was he around to teach her?’ and, ‘Did he not want her to be a speedster at all?’ We are going to answer these questions in the first couple of episodes.
Iris and Barry have gone from newlyweds to having a teenage daughter rather speedily…
Technically, I believe Nora is 24 years old, so she’s our age. Nora is not a teenager. We were just realising that this would be the season that Barry and Iris would turn 30. We probably won’t do a birthday on the show, but this would be the season they reach that landmark age. Time flies!
Does Barry immediately accept the fact that Nora is his daughter from the future?
At first, I think there’s some kind of skepticism and apprehension because we’ve been lied to by people that have walked into the Cortex before. They’ve had people say they were somebody, but they then turned out to be somebody else, so Barry doesn’t want to fall for anything like that again. I think we’ve seen Barry mature a lot over the past few years. When I was cast, I was 23 years old. I’ll turn 29 this season. I’ve grown up a lot on the show and Barry has, too. Barry and I function off our gut. We both know that it’s our daughter. We both believe that it’s her, but she gives off a different vibe to each parent.
How would you describe Nora’s relationship with her mother?
I don’t know if it was noticed, but Nora seemed to be avoiding Iris in the last season. She’s a little stand-offish with Iris, but its reason is not known. She’s extra clingy with Barry, which is the complete opposite. We’ll figure out why is it so in the first couple of episodes. The audience won’t be left wondering for long.
Is family one of the underlying themes of season five?
The Flash has always been a family show. It has been designed in a way so that families can watch it together. It has never been anything different from that. In addition to this, season five is going to be a special season of family tones, and it’s is going to be great. This year, Joe [Jesse L. Martin] and Cecile[Danielle Nicolet] brought a baby girl into the world. Barry and Iris, and the West family in general will have to navigate how to deal with this grown-up kid being here. There are a lot of new family elements in the show. It’s surely going to be a special season.
Barry has suddenly become a father and he has to acclimate to this very bizarre situation where he has a daughter in her 20s. How does this aspect change his story?
It’s hard for Barry because he has always wished for a family and has always wanted a kid. Getting Nora is strange in a way because he almost feels like he’s had something else stolen from him. His life or routine — none of it is normal. His mom was killed because of these powers. He grew up with his dad in prison because of these powers. Now he doesn’t even get to meet his daughter in the normal way. He meets her when she’s in her mid-twenties and thinks to himself, ‘Wait... Are we going to miss out on hearing her heartbeat on the sonogram? Are we going to miss out on seeing her first smile?’ What does this take away from him? Well, we’ll see him deal with it in stages. At first, it’s a tough, weird situation for him because he does feel like he’s been robbed off a lot. He knows this is a gift — but at the same time, how will this affect the future?
Is Barry worried he might erase Nora from history somehow?
Yes. At one point, there’s a line where someone says, ‘She can Marty McFly herself out of existence.’ That’s what could happen if she does the wrong thing, so he’s definitely a little worried.
Who do you work with the most at the start of this new season?
I’ve mostly worked with Jessica, who plays Nora. We haven’t been together a lot as an entire cast, which is how the show has evolved. More and more, they seem to isolate the stories, which I think is a better way to tell the stories. Plus, it’s easier for us to shoot that way. They don’t tend to put 10 people in the Cortex together anymore, which would require everyone on set. We’re a little more split up now.
What was your reaction to the news that this season’s crossover event introduces Batwoman [Ruby Rose]?
I was really excited about the Batwoman news. We haven’t announced the premise of it yet, have we? There is something that I can’t tell you, which is the premise of what the crossover involves. All I can say is that I was excited and I think it’s very cool. It’s something we’ve never done before.
It’s been announced that Gotham City will be involved...
That’s right, but I don’t know if I’m going to Gotham. The crossover involves something that none of the shows have done on their own and we’ve definitely never done it in a crossover before either. I can’t say too much without fully giving it away — but it will be really, really different from any of the previous crossovers.
Do you think The Flash will be a comfortable inhabitant of Gotham City if he ends up having to go there in the crossover episodes?
Sure. He has frequented Starling City [in Arrow] enough now. That’s probably a little similar to Gotham. Well, it’s not Gotham, but it’s not Central City either. I think Barry can handle himself anywhere. He went to Earth X with Nazis and he handled himself fine.
(The Flash season five, airs on Colors Infinity from 10th October.)
