John Wesley Shipp is Back as The Flash in The CW’s Elseworlds Crossover

John Wesley Shipp, the actor who portrayed The Flash in the 1990s CBS series, has once again donned the red tights for The CW’s Elseworlds crossover event. The annual event mixes together heroes from across TV’s The Arrowverse. Marc Guggenheim, executive producer for Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, among others, posted an image to Twitter, declaring that it “might be the coolest thing we’ve ever done.”

After seven years, this just might be the coolest thing we’ve ever done…@JohnWesleyShipp pic.twitter.com/mmpac4k5YE

— Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) October 23, 2018

The current Flash actor, Grant Gustin, took to Instagram to agree. Gustin is wearing the Oliver Queen/Arrow costume, while Shipp sports his 90s-era Flash suit once again, with Melisa Benoist’s Supergirl rounding out the quartet. All while Gustin asks “WHAT IS GOING ON?”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpQTa-AHNJa/?utm_source=ig_embed

Shipp portrayed The Flash on the CBS series in 1990 and 1991 at a time where no other live-action superhero shows were available. He’s appeared on The CW’s The Flash before, playing Barry Allen’s father, Henry Allen.

This year’s Arrowverse crossover storyline heading to Gotham City, a place previously off-limits to The CW. The crossover will start with The Flash on Sunday, December 9. Arrow will continue the story on Monday, December 10, before it all comes to an end in Supergirl on Tuesday, December 11. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is sitting out of this year’s event, and Black Lightning has yet to establish any firm links with the Arrowverse.

The crossover event stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash along with guest stars Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane.

This story will mark Ruby Rose’s debut as Kate Kane, a.k.a. Batwoman. While Kate is Bruce Wayne’s cousin in the DC Universe, the Batman isn’t expected to appear in this story or anywhere else in the Arrowverse any time soon. That said, Batman does exist in this world, and Oliver Queen called him out by name last season on Arrow.