The CW has brought on John Wesley Shipp, who played the original Barry Allen in the 1990 TV series The Flash, to guest star on their new version of The Flash. The actor's role is being kept under wraps, but his character will likely have a recurring role, if The CW issues a series order for the Arrow spin-off.

It's possible that the 59-year-old actor may be playing the imprisoned father of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). When Barry was first introduced in the Arrow episode "The Scientist", Barry revealed that his father went to prison for the murder of his mother, who Barry claims was killed by a "tornado" with a man inside.

John Wesley Shipp joins a cast that includes Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin as Barry's father figure Detective West, Candice Patton as West's daughter and Barry's love interest Iris West, Danielle Panabaker as bioengineering expert Caitlin Snow, Rick Cosnett as Detective Eddie Thawne, Carlos Valdes as engineering expert Cisco Roman (a.k.a. Vibe) and the most recent addition of Tom Cavanaugh as S.T.A.R. Labs' Harrison Wells.

Creators Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns wrote the pilot script and will executive producer, with David Nutter directing the first episode. It isn't known when production will begin on the pilot.

John Wesley Shipp's The Flash only ran for one season of 22 episodes between 1990 and 1991. He also starred in shows such as Sisters and Dawson's Creek. Most recently, the actor played Mr. Lahey in an arc on MTV's Teen Wolf.