Will ‘The Flash’ Kill Ralph? — Some Fans Think So
The Flash just had a major casting shakeup when Hartley Sawyer was fired ahead of season 7. The actor was dismissed after racist and misogynistic tweets he wrote prior to landing The Flash gig surfaced. Some fans think that could mean certain death for his character, Ralph, but others aren’t so sure.
Some fans pondered Ralph’s demise long before Hartley Sawyer was fired from ‘The Flash’
Hartley Sawyer debuted as Ralph Dibney during The Flash Season 4. Initially, the actor was hired in a recurring role, but was promoted to series regular status in seasons 5 and 6. Ralph was imbued with the metahuman ability to bend, stretch and shape-shift. It wasn’t long before he became a full-fledged superhero, joined Team Flash, and took on the moniker of Elongated Man.
From the get-go, Ralph was an extremely polarizing character, which kept Twitter buzzing. And even before Sawyer’s offensive tweets surfaced, some fans were pondering whether his character would be killed off.
“Please, kill Ralph,” tweeted a user over six months before Sawyer’s controversial social media activity surfaced.
“Can The Flash writers kill Ralph Dibny off already? He’s so annoying,” another user wrote nearly two months prior to the off-camera drama.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are passionate fans of Elongated Man who have supported the character avidly on social media, like this fan who tweeted, “Y’all better not kill Ralph Dibny off, ever.”
Fans have ideas about how the plot should play out
The Flash writers are likely working diligently to craft a satisfying story that would tie into Sawyer’s exit. Predictably, fans have their own ideas about what should happen next.
“They could kill him off. I was never a big fan of the character. He was kind of corny. More Cisco, please,” tweeted a fan.
But many viewers do not view killing the character as the only option to move forward. Considering Ralph’s ability to shape-shift and change his physical appearance, recasting has been a popular idea circulating in the Twitterverse.
“The options are 1: Recast Ralph 2: Have Mirror Master kill Ralph off-screen,” suggested one Twitter user.
Many fans of the new character, Sue Dearbon, are holding out hope that The Flash will recast Ralph to keep his charismatic ladylove on the show.
“Welp. I hope they recast and don’t just kill [or] write off Ralph. His and Sue’s storyline was JUST getting somewhere,” noted a fan.
“Sue Dearbon is The Flash’s best new character in years,” gushed another Sue admirer.
No matter how many Twitter theories swirl, the audience will have to wait patiently to find out what is in store for Ralph Dibney on The Flash. Until the show returns, fans can re-watch previous seasons now streaming on Netflix.
