14. The Flash of Earth-90
John Wesley Shipp is nothing short of Flash royalty and it has been a joy to see him play major characters like Henry Allen and Jay Garrick on The CW’s The Flash TV series over the years. The biggest joy, however, might just have been seeing him don a modernized version of the classic Scarlet Speedster suit he wore in the ’90s when he reprised his role from The Flash in the Elseworlds crossover – who we now know was The Flash of Earth-90.
That made it all the more heartbreaking when this legendary character, one who many comic book and TV fans grew up watching, met a tragic end in Crisis On Infinite Earths. But we could all watch with a smile as the veteran hero showed why he was so revered, both inside the screen and outside it, when he took Earth-1 Barry Allen’s place on the cosmic treadmill, saving Earth-1 from the anti-matter wave and the West-Allen family from a life without their Barry.
A tastefully triumphant moment, we watched as the legendary speedster saved those around him, running to his classic TV show’s theme and accompanied by a brief flashback to footage from the show itself, showcasing him with his beloved Tina McGee.
A heartbreaking but heroic sacrifice for the original live-action Scarlet Speedster.