Posted in: CW, TV, YouTube | Tagged: arrowverse, deadpool, grant gustin, green lantern, ryan reynolds, The Flash

The Flash: Ryan Reynolds to Grant Gustin: "You'll Always Be My Barry"

In the latest MNTN Performance TV ad, Ryan Reynolds and Grant Gustin engage in a little The Flash/Green Lantern mutual appreciation.

Even with The CW's Grant Gustin, Candice Patton & Danielle Panabaker-starring The Flash having run its final mile earlier this year, the role of Barry Allen/The Flash is one that will be connected with Gustin for the rest of his career. After nine seasons of a series that helped the "Arrowverse" blow up and also closed the final chapter on it (at least for now?), it's no surprise. But maybe the biggest compliment paid to Gustin's turn as the Scarlet Speedster was the legion of fans who took to social media wondering why Gustin wasn't being brought in to save the Ezra Miller-starring The Flash film – or at least play some kind of role in it. Well, one person who definitely hasn't lost his appreciation for Gustin is Ryan Reynolds ("Deadpool" films), having the actor join him in his latest commercial for MNTN Performance TV Chief Creative Officer Reynolds' advertising platform. And though Gustin's appearing under the guise of "Seymour Roas, Chief Performance Officer" ("See More Return on Ad Spend," get it?)… this is Reynolds we're talking about here, folks. Fourth-wall-breaking seems to be "par the course," as Reynolds makes it clear that maybe a little "fancasting" is in play.

Here's a look at the ad that went live earlier today, with Reynolds dropping ten-ton references to Gustin's "Arrowverse" days – but it's the very end that makes it all worthwhile (Reynolds: "You'll always be my Barry" / Gustin: "You'll always be my Hal" / Reynolds: "That hurts Seymour"):

The Flash: Gustin, Wallace & Helbing on Alternate Endings

Speaking with EW back in May of this year, Gustin, showrunner Eric Wallace, and previous showrunner Todd Helbing (now on Superman & Lois) shared how they originally envisioned the long-running Arrowverse series finishing its final run. With Iris' (Patton) support and Baby Nora watching on, the series finale sawBarry deciding to "spread the love," so to speak, by sharing his speed powers with the next wave of Arrowverse heroes (with names that comics fans will know all too well): Avery Ho (Piper Curda), Max Mercury (Trevor Carroll), and Jess Chambers (Hana Destiny Huggins). Gustin, Wallace & Helbing were happy with how the series ended but wanted to share their thoughts & theories from earlier in the show's run:

Grant Gustin Was a Fan of This Fan Theory: "It was a fan theory I saw online about Barry sacrificing himself to the Speed Force and becoming the lightning bolt that struck him in this full circle moment. I thought it was cool, and I remember I talked to Eric [Wallace] about it and he was really set on Barry and Iris having a happy ending. He didn't want to see Barry have a hero's death the same way Oliver [Stephen Amell] did [on Arrow]."

Eric Wallace Was Thinking "Negative": "I got the emotional heart of it, but because there was no season 10, there was just no time to set it up. The ending that I did have in mind had the Negative Forces involved. We didn't get it quite as I wanted, but the Negative Forces storyline would've been far, far bigger."

Todd Helbing Doubled-Down on Finale Thoughts: "I always thought that it was going to end with the newspaper: 'Flash vanishes in crisis.' Obviously, once 'Crisis' happened, can't do that anymore. And I had a similar thought to Barry becoming the lightning that struck him, where he gets caught in the future, and the only way to protect him from Reverse-Flash is to basically create himself. I thought that would've been a cool ending."

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