Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Flash fans got a proper comic-book detour this week, as Season 1, Episode 9 dropped Stuart Bloom and his friends into a Gotham City that had somehow become real. Waiting for them were a live-action Mr. Freeze and Jay Garrick’s version of The Flash.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Flash cameo puts Jay Garrick in Gotham
Eric Allan Kramer plays Mr. Freeze, who attacks Stuart with icicles, ice walls and an enormous frozen bowling ball, according to IGN’s episode report. Andy Ridings then appears as Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, complete with the winged helmet and a few one-liners.
The episode also knows the match-up is slightly odd. Golden Age Flash is usually associated with villains such as the Rival or Vandal Savage, while Mr. Freeze is much more naturally a Batman problem. The show lets its characters point that out rather than pretend the comic-book geography adds up.
Why Green Lantern was replaced by The Flash
The episode title, “Spoiler: We Couldn’t Get Green Lantern”, gives away the original plan. Co-creator Zak Penn told Deadline that the team was told it could not use the character because HBO’s live-action Lanterns was already using the property.
“If we needed something that’s going from dimension to dimension, Flash worked even better than Green Lantern.”
Zak Penn, co-creator of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
Penn said the Golden Age Flash also appealed because the character was “kind of silly”. That gave the writers room to play with comic-book logic, while DC’s Jim Lee helped develop the versions of Flash and Mr. Freeze used in the episode. ComicBook.com’s report notes that both characters were designed with their comic-book looks in mind.
The first season ends with Episode 10 next week. For local viewers, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’s UAE streaming details are already covered, while Lanterns’ UAE availability explains the DC scheduling overlap behind the joke.
The series has already been renewed for a second season, although Penn told Deadline that the writers’ room had not started work on it yet. The first season finale is scheduled for September 24.
For UAE viewers, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is available via HBO Max, with availability subject to the platform’s local catalogue.
Who plays The Flash in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe?
Andy Ridings plays Jay Garrick, the Golden Age version of The Flash, in Season 1, Episode 9.
Who plays Mr. Freeze in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe?
Eric Allan Kramer plays Mr. Freeze in the episode’s Gotham City comic-book storyline.
Why is Green Lantern not in the episode?
Co-creator Zak Penn said the team could not use Green Lantern because HBO’s live-action Lanterns was already using the property.
