Iris West-Allen (Arrowverse)

Candice Patton was cast as Iris West-Allen on The CW show The Flash, in February 2014.[10] Her casting process was characterized by her, as "surreal", as she auditioned for the role in December 2013, and didn't hear from the production until January of the next year, assuming she wasn't picked. She had also expressed interest in appearing in Gotham, due to her favorite superhero being Batman.[11] She has mentioned that her character is not based on the comics,[12] but she had studied them to prepare for the role.[13] With her casting she described the character as "passionate" and adding that the triangle between Barry, her, and Rick Cosnett's Eddie Thawne, was "very complicat[ing]".[14] Patton said that she was proud that a black actress was portraying such a significant role, with her being a role model to young people, and normalizing interracial relations, while supporting the decision of race-changing, made by the showrunners. She has described her role as strong, fearless, passionate and emotional, with Iris having strength in vulnerability. She took inspiration from fellow actresses, Halle Berry and Zoe Saldaña, and politician Hillary Clinton,[14] with highliting the fact that Iris is not a side character in the show.[15] Throughout the show, her dressing style changing, showcasing her maturing, and becoming a leader.[16] Patton expressed her view that the scheduling of the show is hard, and every year the storylines are getting bigger and more complex, with her being more nervous everytime the show restarts production, as a resulting, consuming more caffeine than she normally would. The actress also said that during the first three seasons, Iris and Grant Gustin's character were in conflict, and she was happy that their relationship's nature changed afterwards.[17] When asked about how hard was to play a different version of her character, she said that she tried to stay close to the original one, and had to improvize in some instances, with her taking this version as a more tough person and protective over her in-show husband. The moment when her character learnt that its version was married to Barry Allen, she knew she had to show to the viewers that Iris was developing romantic feelings for him. For season 2, she found it interesting that Iris was starting to grow her relationship with her editor, but they were never meant to be together. When asked about her relationship with her fictional brother, Keiynan Lonsdale's Wally West, she responded by saying that "Iris is just going to continue to try to support Wally and help him find his place in the West family. And hopefully try to bridge a relationship between him and Barry. She'll help Wally discover who he really is".[12] For season 4, she said that Iris had a responsibility to take up the role of her husband, after he vanished in the Speed Force, while also being depressed and sad that Barry's gone, as she doesn't know when or if he will return, but also angry, for him leaving her.[18][19] She also added that her and Barry have no secrets anymore, and Iris is ready to face bigger threats.[13] For the episode Run, Iris, Run, where the character gets Flash's powers, Patton said that "It's a complete role reversal [...] And the team trusting in her and her stepping out from behind the console and being a leader in a different way.", with executive producer Helbing adding that "[She's] using everything she's learned, plus Barry's expertise. But we really wanted to have this dynamic when they flop places where she really gets to know what it's like for Barry when he goes out there, and Barry gets to know what it's like for her". Patton, after watching Wonder Woman, appreciated the decision of giving powers to Iris even further.[20] For her wedding scene on the crossover event, Crisis on Earth-X, she picked her wedding dress on her own.[21] For season 5, when asked about its themes, she responded by saying that it is about legacy and family, especially due to the presence of Jessica Parker Kennedy's character, Nora West-Allen / XS.[22] When asked about the CC Citizen, she said that it was made to showcase the leadership skills of Iris, but also to show the power of women.[23] For season 6, Patton has stated that Iris was dealing with the death of Nora, and try to heal, while she has expressed interest into building her relationship with other members of the Team Flash.[24] In 2022, she revealed that she had mood swings on set, due to her lack of vitamin D.[25] Commenting on her absence from four episodes of season 8, she said that when negotiating her contract, she wanted to be able to get back to her home in the United States if the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, and she wasn't able to cross the Canada–United States border.[26] On the fact that The Flash was ending with its ninth season, Patton expressed a sense of "release", that such a huge project was over.[27]

The origin story of Iris West-Allen has been updated for the show, although many writers have taken upon the development of the character throughout its sixty-six years of existence in the comic books. In the comics, Iris works as a reporter for Picture News, based in Central City, and is the fiancée of Barry Allen, and discovers her husband's secret on their wedding night when Barry talks in his sleep.[28][29] She is also born in the 30th century.[30] In the New 52 rebooted DC Comics continuity, she is not married to Barry, although the two have romantic interest to each other.[31] She is caucasian, and red-headed. In the show, she is black, although she dyed her hair red. She is also not from the future, and her father is named Joe West, not Ira West. Also, Iris never had lived with Barry in the comics growing up, and she never had Wally West as her younger brother, but as her cousin. In the show, Wally and Iris have issues between them, due to them never growing up together, and have to make up the lost time, something that is not the case as Wally is a good member of the West family. Her relationship with Eddie Thawne is non-existent in the comics. The organization Central City Citizen, that she heads from season 6 of the show, doesn't exist in the main continuity, only in the Flashpoint one, and was adopted mainly for the needs of the character's development.[32][33] In the crossover event comic book, Crisis on Infinite Earths, she died during the Anti-Monitor attack to the Multiverse, something that happened too in the Arrowverse's event of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The job of a reporter is also kept from the comics, with the difference of her laddering up to the position of Editor-In-Chief. In the comics, neither her adoptive, Nadine, nor her biological, Fran, mother left her, or died from MacGregor's Syndrome, something that happened in the eleventh episode, titled "The Reverse-Flash Returns", of the second season of the show. In the comics she dresses more stylish, like Audrey Hepburn, and in the show she has a modern clothing choices.CBR.com has noted that both of the versions have leadership abilities, that shined especially during the third season of the show. In the second mentioned season, the event of Flashpoint is presented, but in the comic books Iris is a working journalist, cooperating with her nephew and cameraman, Wally West. In the show's events, she is aiding Wally in his Flash activities, although the fact that she doesn't know Barry is the same.[34][35] Another similarity is that their children, although having different names as in the comics they are named Dawn and Don Allen and in the show they are named Nora West-Allen / XS, after Barry's deceased mother, and Bart Allen / Impulse, in both versions have superpowers inherited by their father, that of superspeed. It is noteworthy the fact that Bart is actually the grandson of Iris, and not the son, as he is the son of Don.[36][37]

A version of the character, residing on Earth-2, is seen in the second season of The Flash. Her universe was destroyed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. She was studying journalism, and when her boyfriend, Barry Allen, went to get his PhD, she quit her internship and became a cop to help pay for his tuition. At some point, the two married. She was a policewoman, investigating Hunter Zolomon / Zoom. When Barry Allen / The Flash of Earth-1 arrived to her world, she didn't notice, as he took her husband's place to search for information on Zoom. That night they went to Jitterbugs Joe West's singing show. Then, Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost and Ronnie Raymond / Deathstorm stormed the place, with Deathstorm accidentally shooting a fireball at Joe, hospitalizing him. Later, he died, with Iris feeling guilty she couldn't save her father. After getting a lead on their location, she went after them. She was eventually saved by The Flash. The next day, Barry of Earth-1 revealed to her he was from another universe, and wanted help for the saving of Jesse Wells, Harry Wells daughter. After helping him, she and her Barry left for Atlantis, to escape Zoom. In late 2019, her world was destroyed from an anti-matter wave.[39]

A version of the character, residing on Earth-90 portrayed by Paula Marshall, was a computer graphic artist and the ex-girlfriend of Barry Allen. In 1990, she broke up with Barry due to him being not interested in their relationship. She was killed when the Monitor invaded their world, using the Book of Destiny.[50]

A version of the character, which was created by Eva McCulloch, from the dimension of Mirrorverse, after the kidnapping of Iris West-Allen. She is often referred to as Mirror Iris. She assumed the role of the original Iris West-Allen and filled in the blanks with Barry Allen on the real Iris's disappearance. At a dinner with Barry, they were attacked by Amunet Black, telling them to not interfere with her activities. She joined Amunet's business against Barry's wishes, but failed to take her down on her own, calling Barry for help, to also stop Goldface. Though she was able to get the mirror gun from Joe West, she didn't extract any information about Joseph Carver. When Wally returned, she had to fake knowing him, but Wally told Barry that he had a weird feeling about her. At some point, Kamilla Hwang took a picture of her that was showing she was a mirror clone, and Iris had to send her to the Mirrorverse, bringing a mirror clone of her to be replaced with. Later, Iris and Kamila went to interview Tina McGee, at Mercury Labs, but their true goal was to retrieve a prismatic refractor. As they were about to escape, Millie Rawlins / Sunshine attacked them, but Barry intervened saving them. After learning that Joe went to witness protection, due to an assassination attempt, she uses it as the reason to kick Barry out of their apartment, with the goal of weakening him. She, Kamilia, and a mirror clone of David Singh, went to Ramsey Rosso / Bloodwork and took blood sample from him, to use it to bring Eva back from the Mirrorverse. Upon Barry realizing that, he went to her apartment and the two fought, with her mirror glass, though, telekenisis, to wound him. When she realized that she was a mere tool of Eva, she decided to be self-destroyed.[51]

A version of the character, residing on an unnamed Earth portrayed by Kiersey Clemons, is seen when Barry Allen saves her from a traffic accident, using his superspeed.[52]

Candice Patton in 2017.

Patton was cast as Iris West on The CW show The Flash, in 2014.[1] Her casting was met with mixed feelings, due to her being a black actress, and the role she was going to portray was white and red-headed in the comics.[58] According to website Fansided, Patton changed the way Hollywood viewed black women, and seemed to influence further race swaps of other characters, such as the Iris West that appeared in DC Extended Universe's Zack Snyder's Justice League, portrayed by Kiersey Clemons, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man: Homecoming, MJ, portrayed by Zendaya, and the casting of Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl in the DCEU film, Batgirl.[59] Web site TV Guide mentioned that in earlier seasons of The Flash, it seemed like Patton's character was colorblind, and wasn't acting like a black person. But, in season 6 "she was allowed to be a more authentic version of herself when she rocked her natural curls".[60] Patton has been victim to racist attacks by fans of the show, due to her playing a white character, with fellow co-start Grant Gustin saying on his personal Instagram account "Our Iris is an African American actress [...] and she always is gonna be [...] she will continue to play her [role], and I have her back and will have her back".[61][62] Patton has been experiencing this phenomenon from the day of her casting, and many fans have noted that The CW didn't take an official stand, until a 2020 Twitter post made by the official account of the network indirectly mentioning her too. Fans quickly went to support the actress, and attack the network.[63][64] According to website Decider, she was the highlight of DC FanDome event.[65] The Looper noted that the scene of season 6 "Marathon", where Iris, trapped in the Mirrorverse, was touching hands with her husband, Barry, without him seeing her, was her best in the show's run.[66]

Some fans, although, have noted the due to her being a successful journalist, her character looked like a combination of Lois Lane and Linda Park, both reporters in DC comics.[67] Fans also have criticized the way her character was written, with some suggesting that she doesn't deserve the hate, because it is up to the writers on how to portray her.[68] The moment that sparked the most controversy was when in a scene of the second episode of season 4, titled "Mixed Feelings", during an emotional moment with Barry, she said to him that "We are the Flash", implementing that together make up the hero. The line was met with an outrage from fans, with the website Discussing Films noting that the bad feelings that were created, continued to follow the character's reputation throughout the rest of the show, but adding that the hero was always more than one person in the show.[69] For season 7, the PTSD she experienced in the Mirrorverse was never explored, and was forgotten, being described as "a let down" by critics.[70] Many fans have argued that the show is not giving the feeling of a duo, between Iris and Barry, something that is the case with Clark Kent and Lois Lane in the connected show Superman & Lois.[71] According to Collider, Patton's character was treated unfairly in season 8, and was characterized by the website as a "plot point", while noting that her death in Negative, Part One did not have any gravite or impact.[72] The mentioned website has placed the Barry-Iris couple as the fourth best of the Arrowverse.[73] Patton as Iris has received positive reviews and from critics, with The Flash being the most watched show in The CW history.[74]

All awards and nominations are for Patton's performance as Iris West-Allen in The Flash: