The Flash Theory: Jay Garrick Was Part of Earth-Prime Justice Society In WWII - Screen Rant

Warning: Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 6

A reveal about Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) in The Flash season 8 means he may have been a Justice Society member in the 1940s. In comic books, the original Justice Society of America was a team of superheroes that formed in the early 1940s. The team’s roster was comprised of characters like Hawkman, the original Green Lantern, the Spectre, and Garrick.

There are two different live-action versions of the Golden Age’s Justice Society in The CW’s DC shows. A time travel adventure to the 1940s introduced the crew of the Waverider to the JSA in Legends of Tomorrow season 2. Their trip to 1942 debuted Arrowverse incarnations of Stargirl, Hourman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Commander Steel, Vixen, and Obsidian. These six heroes made up the Arrowverse’s take on DC’s oldest superhero team. Later, the Justice Society was reinvented by Stargirl with a more comic-accurate lineup. They were presented as a fallen team of heroes who died at the hands of the Injustice Society several years ago.

Stargirl season 2 confirmed that Shipp’s Jay Garrick was its version of the Flash. Since Stargirl is set on a different Earth in The CW’s DC multiverse, it’s capable of creating different versions of established Arrowverse characters. While this character’s personality perfectly matched The Flash’s interpretation of him, Stargirl differentiated him from the Arrowverse version through his history as a longtime member of the Justice Society. Presumably, The Flash’s Jay didn’t have this backstory. However, an Easter egg to his DC Comics past suggested otherwise. In The Flash season 8, episode 6, titled “Impulsive Excessive Disorder”, it was stated that Jay was active in World War II on account of time travel. For this reason, he may have been on Earth-Prime’s JSA team.

Jay Garrick's Post-Crisis History Explained

Before “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, Jay was the Flash of Earth-3. Over a year after Oliver Queen used his Spectre powers to reboot the multiverse, Jay Garrick’s post-Crisis fate was finally revealed. In The Flash season 7, it was confirmed that even though Jay is technically a doppelganger of Henry Allen, he was allowed a place on Earth-Prime. Married to Joan Williams (Nora Allen’s doppelganger), Jay currently resides in Keystone City. Like the pre-Crisis character, he was a friend to Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen and an ally for many of his biggest fights. He retired from being the Flash after losing his speedster abilities but he got them back in time to help with the fight against Godspeed. Based on reveals from Impulse and XS, Jay is fated to become a mentor figure to Barry’s children in the future. He was originally going to die in battle with Godspeed, but his death has been averted by their time travel shenanigans.

The Flash Just Gave Jay Garrick His Golden Age Backstory

An exchange in “Impulsive Excessive Disorder” expanded on Jay’s post-Crisis history by revealing that he time-traveled back to World War II and fought Nazis. He told Bart and Nora that he lived “on and off” in the past for a period of 16 years before deciding to live permanently in his proper place in the timeline. The Flash season 8’s World War II reference effectively gave the hero his Golden Age backstory. The comic book version of the Crimson Comet has a long-held reputation as a 1940s superhero who battled the Third Reich and a number of Nazi supervillains. Because of his age, it was always understood that the Arrowverse’s Jay Garrick couldn’t have gone down this road, but The Flash’s time travel reveal incorporates this important element of the comic character into his Earth-Prime history.

Why Jay Garrick May Have Been A JSA Member

In the same vein as the Stargirl character and the comic hero, Jay may have been a member of the Justice Society. That would make a great deal of sense, especially in light of the knowledge that his trip to the 1940s wasn’t a one-time thing. For him to be around on a long-term basis, it stands to reason that Jay made friends, found some sense of stability, and made a life for himself there. This could very well could have included a long stint with the Justice Society of America. So when Jay was fighting Nazis in World War II, he may have been in the company of other superheroes with like-minded goals.

He may have even had the same role as Stargirl’s Jay Garrick, who acted as a moral compass and voice of hope within the group. When the team was debating the morality of killing someone to stop a threat, Jay was one of the only team members who voted against it. And everything known about Earth-Prime’s Jay Garrick implies that he’d take the same route.

Who Is Earth-Prime’s Justice Society (& Will The Flash Meet Them?)

The Flash’s World War II line may never be anything more than an Easter egg, but given the nature of the series, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they could show up in an upcoming episode or The Flash season 9. Time travel has always been integral to the show’s story, and that’s clearly not going to change in season 8. With that in mind, Barry going back to the 1940s and meeting Jay’s old team could be on the table for future stories. An alternative scenario could involve 1940s Jay leading his team to the present.

If this were to happen in The Flash, it’s worth wondering which characters would appear. A reference in Legends of Tomorrow season 6 proved that Earth-Prime did have a JSA team, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same one the Waverider crew crossed paths with in season 2. Due to the changes made to the multiverse in “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, The Flash would have the freedom to include its own take on the Justice Society lineup. Going in this direction would open the door for the Arrowverse to introduce new versions of pre-Crisis characters or JSA heroes it’s never used before, such as the original Atom, Al Pratt. Either way, the idea of Jay being on a Justice Society roster during World War II lends the Arrowverse a ton of storytelling potential for future episodes of The Flash. The show using time travel to unite them with the Scarlet Speedster and Jay Garrick could lead to an exciting team-up of epic proportions.

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About The Author

Nicholas Raymond (3283 Articles Published)

Nicholas Raymond is a staff movies & TV features writer for Screen Rant. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo, and is the author of the psychological thriller and time travel novel, "A Man Against the World." Nicholas' love for telling stories is inspired by his love for film noir, westerns, superhero movies, classic films, and ancient history. His favorite actors are Tyrone Power and Eleanor Parker. He can be reached by email at cnrmail@bellsouth.net and on Twitter at @cnraymond91.