THE FLASH Casts Michelle Harrison As Barry Allen’s Mother

It’s been two weeks since we got casting news concerning The Flash pilot, but we’ve finally got a new character joining the fray. Michelle Harrison (Emily Owens, MD) has been cast to play Nora Allen, Barry Allen’s mother. Harrison will guest star/recur as Nora similar to John Wesley Shipp’s mysterious role, and joins Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes and Tom Cavanagh in the pilot.

During Barry’s appearance in Arrow, Nora was revealed to have been killed when Barry was a boy. His father was imprisoned for the murder, and Barry has spent his life attempting to prove his father’s innocence. Because of her character’s death, Harrison’s role will likely be limited to flashbacks and hallucinations. Nora’s death has also been prominent in The Flash comics over the past several years. Spoilers for those who don’t know their Flash Facts, but it was revealed in The Flash: Rebirth that Professor Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Professor Zoom had traveled back in time to murder Nora (although whether he was still responsible for her death in The New 52 remains to be seen).

Barry also mentioned in Arrow a blur-like tornado force that appeared on the night of his mother’s murder that knocked him 20 blocks away, and suspects that this blur was responsible for his mother’s death. That, combined with Rick Cosnett playing a Detective Eddie Thawne, leads me to suspect that Nora’s murder has more to it than meets the eye, and that this mysterious detective will play a similar role to his comic book counterpart. I know, that’s probably an obvious statement, but as I’ve seen on Arrow, nothing happens on these shows exactly the way they happen in the comics. We’ll just have to wait and see.

SOURCE: Deadline