No Hope For Barry Allen's Beard As The Flash's Grant Gustin Prepares For Season 6

the flash barry is worried
(Image credit: the cw press)

Throughout the entirety of The Flash Season 5, Barry Allen was caught in an ever-expanding quagmire following the emergence of Nora, his future offspring, within the current timeline. But you know what he failed to do during that entire span? He never tried to look more "dad-ly" by growing a beard again, and he also failed to growing a stocky pot belly.

Star Grant Gustin let his own facial hair grow out during the hiatus, to a the point where he was looking like Barry Allen's cooler older friend for a while. Alas, Gustin shared an Instagram pic that offers up a before and after look takes Gustin from Beardy Allen to Bareface Allen. Check him out!

A photo posted by on

"Such a sad day" is one of the better ways to put it. I mean, clearly Barry doesn't need to grow a beard in order to do cool shit. He only kept a full face of facial hair for one episode, after all. So this is just more of an aesthetic thing. Maybe even a "passing of the torch" thing, if you catch my arrow's drift.

Did The Flash Reveal The First Crisis On Infinite Earths Footage?

With Arrow ending its eight-season run later this year (or possibly next, depending on how the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event plays out), it would be a fun idea to have Barry adopt a mustache and beard to honor the absence of Oliver Queen, since it's never too early to make assumptions about Oliver's death, especially if that makes my argument even minutely more sound.

the flash barry has a beard season 4 premiere

The only time Barry Allen did rock a look that could comfortably be called "scraggly" was in the Season 4 premiere. He'd just escaped the Speed Force, though he wasn't exactly cognizant of that or any other facts. And then he started up with the rhyme time and all the doodles that ended up being Nora's secret language. The beard may have only been a super-temporary accessory for Barry's face, but it was there to set off some of The Flash's biggest mysteries. Ones that didn't even get answered until the next season.

So while we know Barry's facial hair won't be around in Season 6, at least in the early going, we're still scratching our heads over what's going to happen with his BFF. Carlos Valdes' tech-savvy Cisco Ramon seemed like he would be making a big exit from Team Flash when Season 5 ended. And that was coupled with rumors about how Valdes himself was looking to move on from The Flash after the fifth season.

However, other recent rumors have Cisco around early on to witness the introduction of a new S.T.A.R. Labs team member that is yet to be cast. Will Cisco be hiring his own replacement before making his actual exit?

And perhaps the biggest question of all: where's Reverse-Flash's beard at?

reverse flash I'm dead

We'll find all that out and more when The Flash debuts Season 6 on The CW this fall on Tuesday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Before that, though, fans are sure to find out all kinds of great details when The Flash, Arrow and other CW favorites touch down in San Diego Comic-Con next month.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.