Kid Flash has been a fixture of the Arrowverse for the past few years, first appearing on season 2 of The Flash before hopping over to Legends of Tomorrow earlier in 2018. However, actor Keiynan Lonsdale has now decided to take a back seat from the franchise and will no longer be a regular on either show going forward, though he has promised that Wally West will return occasionally.
It must’ve been a tough decision to make for the Australian actor, and it’ll likely be equally as hard on his co-stars, who’ll miss having him around. The Flash‘s Candice Patton, who plays his on-screen sister Iris West, is one of the first to speak out on her feelings about Lonsdale’s exit and revealed that she’ll certainly miss her speedster brother but is happy that he’s coming back every now and again.
“I don’t want to. I love Keiynan so much. If anyone knows us, we’re very, very close, and that was a hard one for me. It was hard saying goodbye to Rick, it was hard saying goodbye to Keiynan. And he’s not gone forever; he’s just not there a lot. But yeah, I think it had the potential to be a great character, and I think it is a great character. I think there’s so much more meat to pull from Wally. He’s such a beloved superhero in the comics.
If you’re a fan of the comics, Wally is such an incredible character. And I think Keiynan brought a lot to that character. So yeah, he’ll be missed in The Flash world. He won’t be there all the time, but he’ll resurface every now and again, which…you know, I’ll take it. I’ll take it.”
Patton’s comments will likely be reflected by most Arrowverse fans. Kid Flash is indeed a massive part of DC lore and it does feel like The CW has only just scratched the surface of what Wally can bring to the table. After all, the character was the one and only Flash for decades in the comics following Barry Allen’s death. What’s more, he was a great fit as part of Legends’ Waverider crew and we’ll miss him on that show, too.
Not that Lonsdale will disappear without a trace, though. It was said at Comic-Con that the actor will return for three episodes at the beginning of The Flash season 5 before moving on. As for Legends, however, there’ll likely only be a brief reference to how Wally’s gone back to Central City.
