The Flash, particularly its first season, is a shining example of a network superhero TV series surpassing expectations. After Barry Allen’s plainclothes introduction during Arrow season two, the plan was for a later episode of Arrow to serve as a backdoor pilot for a potential Flash TV series. But the CW’s confidence in The Flash was so high that they bypassed the “backdoor” and went straight for a traditional pilot, and now here we are on the cusp of a third season. But there would have been one really, really big difference, one that would have altered the entire direction of the show. Rick Cosnett, who played Detective Eddie Thawne on the show was set to play a different character, and not one easily ignored: he would have played Jay Garrick. Now, it’s not quite clear if he was intended to be the helmeted speedster, or if that name would have been something of a red herring (similar to how Eddie’s “Thawne” last name was a fun piece of misdirection for comic book fans, or where they took things with Jay for much of season two). Cosnett told the crowd at Heroes and Villains fest that “They thought I was going to be Jay Garrick for the pilot, but I guess they changed their minds.” Of course, fans finally got the “real” Jay Garrick in the form of John Wesley Shipp in the season two finale. But see if you can picture Rick Cosnett in Jay Garrick’s helmet, and what the show would be like with that character around from the get go.
