"The Flash" Showrunners Say Wally West Could Be Coming Next Season

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Without stepping into the new 52 landmine, I'm not into the idea of bringing in Wally West for the new few seasons because right now I think he would be a redundant character as his role is filled by Barry and Cisco.

But then again we dont know what the next seasons hold so we might get different versions of Wally walking around like one might be 12 years old in the modern day while another is 24 in a time skip scenario etc.

[Justice]

BUT .....Wally was created in ..i think the 80's ? When there were already notable Black or Bame (Black or Minority Ethnic) Characters in Both DC and Marvel such as , Black Lightning , Amazing Man , Bill Foster , Black Panther , Cyborg etc.

Wally West predates the Fantastic Four, being created in 1959. Also, Bill Foster's superhero identity was Black Goliath, meaning out of the five characters you named, three had black in their hero names, making race their defining attribute to potential readers. None of those characters currently have a solo on-going. None of those characters have considerable power except Cyborg who is unable to live a normal life and helped pave the way for the technological black hero stereotype.

Real talk now .. There Three Amazing Green Lanterns of Ethnic Minoritys , Kyle Rayner who's hispanic i believe , John Stewart and Simon Baz . If The Cast of a Flash wanted a African American Flash surely they could just create a new character and not change Wally and Iris completely ?

It is incredibly tough for new characters to gain traction in superhero comics. Therefore, it's easier to increase diversity by changing the race of these characters following reboots.

Those Green Lanterns are poor examples of ethnic minorities being positively represented in superhero comics. Kyle Rayner is Mexican and Irish, but the character looks white. You'd only know he was something other than white when it's written. John Stewart doesn't have his own title like Hal or Kyle. He has shared the Green Lantern Corps title with Guy Gardner, but wasn't truly the co-lead. When DC Comics did the #0 issues to tell origins or fill-in somethings created by the 5 year gap, GLC was focused on Guy, not John. It was until Secret Origins #9, where his origin was finally divulged to readers. Simon Baz debuted as a criminal and was reasonably suspected of being a terrorist. The character also carries a gun and virtually sports a ski-mask.