Casting has begun for The CW’s Flash pilot, the Arrow spin-off starring Grant Gustin as the Scarlet Speedster.
Law & Order alum Jesse L. Martin will play Detective West, Barry Allen’s (Gustin) surrogate father, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Detective West is described as “an honest, blue-collar cop” as well as “soulful, funny and caring father to Iris — Barry’s potential love interest.” He “came up through the foster care system and took Barry in after his mother’s slaying and father’s imprisonment.”
Martin played Detective Ed Green for upwards of 200 episodes on Law & Order. His other recent credits include arcs on Smash and The Philanthropist. He’s also well known for his role as Tom Collins in both the Broadway and film versions of Rent.
The original plan for the Flash series was to introduce Barry Allen in episodes 8 and 9 of Arrow. Episode 20 would then serve as a backdoor pilot. However, The CW eventually decided to take the standalone pilot approach after his introduction was particularly well-received by CW higher ups.
As planned, Gustin made his debut as Barry Allen in the Arrow mid-season finale as a Central City crime scene investigator who arrives in the Arrow’s (Stephen Amell) home city of Starling to investigate a series of strange robberies. Read our recap of the second of the two-part mid-season finale, “Three Ghosts,” here.
It was also revealed in the mid-season premiere, “Blast Radius,” that Barry has been in a coma since the accident that appeared to give him his Flash powers.
In other Flash news, Gustin posted a picture to his Instagram with his script for the pilot episode:
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.