As ‘The Flash’ Ends, It’s Time To Recast Ralph Dibny

Jan 14

Next month, the CW superhero series The Flash begins airing a thirteen-episode ninth and final season. Fans are certainly expecting guest appearances from not only the show’s past but the connections it’s made to other shows in its universe. Some guest stars are already known, and that includes at least one series regular, as Keiynan Lonsdale is confirmed to return as Wally West/Kid Flash. However, there’s one character who started out promising but was hastily handled in a way that should be corrected and resolved respectfully: Ralph Dibny.

In July 2017, actor Hartley Sawyer was cast as Ralph Dibny. A comics-originating character, he was a fired CCPD detective turned private eye who not only survived the particle accelerator explosion thanks to Flashpoint but became a metahuman with stretching powers and took on the name Elongated Man. After spending that fourth season in a recurring, he was promoted to series regular starting with season five. He even got to be part of the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, his first and ultimately only crossover. In March 2020, production on season six shut down due to COVID. In what became the season finale “Success Is Assured”, which aired in May, he went on the run with his missing person's case subject, Sue Dearbon, after Eva McCulloch framed her for the murder of George Carver, the leader of the Black Hole crime syndicate. The three episodes intended to close out season 6 were moved to be the openers for season 7.

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On June 8, Sawyer was fired from the series when racist, misogynistic, and homophobic tweets from before his hiring resurfaced. It happened, and they moved on, but this is a plea to give a more satisfying conclusion to how they moved on. Let’s see how they handled the firing of an actor mid-story. In the episode “Mother”, the final of those three episodes, Ralph gets the evidence he needs to clear Sue’s name by raiding a McCulloch Industries/Black Hole facility, which Eva blows up, causing severe burns and melting. One trip to the healing chamber later and he’s given a convenient helmet to (hide that it’s not Sawyer) help his face heal. His voice is different, and whoever is standing in is still unknown. Hartley Sawyer should not come back, and that’s not what’s being asked. The situation can still easily be worked with, but the effort so far feels incomplete.

On paper, the explosion necessitating facial reconstruction works perfectly as the setup for recasting Dibny. And that is why they should recast him. It’s a great setup, but it needs the right payoff to not look like a bitter act of spite. His elasticity allows him to shapeshift into anyone he can picture in his mind. He has transformed into several characters, including Joe West, and when The Thinker had taken over his body, he used the same ability to become John Diggle. Surely he can put to mind a non-preexisting figure so he’s not masquerading as anyone else, no matter the actor hired, but they still need to hire someone.

The stories for seasons seven and eight have passed, making ample time to find Ralph a new face. Sweats and a helmet covering a melted face should not be the last image of the character fans get to see. Sue is his love interest in the comics, well beyond this stalled early stage they are in this series. Are they just supposed to be professional partners forever? Did Sue really have to make eight solo appearances across seasons seven and eight while Ralph was just mentioned three times? That stretch in season 8 feels especially egregious. She was there for the entirety of the Deathstorm arc, could Ralph really not have helped? Was having Robbie Amell around precluding the casting and presence of a new Ralph? Show everyone was important, especially previous series regulars who weren’t there from the very beginning. Offhand comments shouldn’t be the last we hear about them. It’s time to face the music, and swallow some pride for the final stretch. Complete the transformation, and recast Ralph Dibny.

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