The latest episode of "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff, "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe," officially plunges its main characters into the DC Comics universe. Not only does it feature Mr. Freeze wreaking havoc in Gotham City, but the episode title itself, "Spoiler: We Couldn't Get Green Lantern," playfully pokes fun at the situation. The show even brought in another classic DC hero, the original Flash, Jay Garrick, to save the day.
This episode picks up where last week left off, with Stuart, Bert, Denise, and Kripke trapped in a comic book world and encountering Mr. Freeze, portrayed by Eric Allan Kramer. Notably, Kramer was the first live-action Thor in 1988's "The Incredible Hulk Returns."
Meanwhile, Andy Ridings transforms into Jay Garrick's Flash in the episode, helping the main characters traverse different dimensions. In fact, The Flash wasn't the creative team's initial choice; they originally wanted Green Lantern.
Co-creator Zak Penn told Deadline that they were informed they couldn't use Green Lantern because HBO was producing "Lanterns," a decision he understood.
He stated that writer Chuck Lorre was initially a bit displeased, but he and fellow writer Bill Prady later realized that if they needed a character who could travel between different dimensions, The Flash was actually a better fit than Green Lantern.
Penn also admitted that the team particularly loved the Golden Age Flash's somewhat goofy charm. They intentionally had the characters travel from Gotham City to Central City for help, using this to poke fun at seemingly obvious yet ultimately absurd tropes within the comic book world.
The character designs for this episode were developed through close collaboration between the creative team and DC President and CCO Jim Lee. Penn joked that the DC team offered assistance with an attitude of "anything we can help with, except Green Lantern."
"Stuart Fails to Save the Universe" has already received an early renewal for a second season, and Penn indicated that the possibility of further exploring the DC Universe in the future is quite high.
via： Deadline