On The CW show The Flash, Dr. Harrison Wells’ former protégé, Hartley Rathaway, returns. He’s seeking revenge on Wells after being affected by the particle accelerator explosion. But Rathaway isn’t a metahuman like the others who have sought revenge on Wells. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg describes Rathaway as “one of our technology-based powers, like Captain Cold [Wentworth Miller].” Rathaway’s alter-ego, one of the most popular gay characters in the DC Comics universe, The Pied Piper, comes across “a little bit silly” in the comics. Kreisberg said in the comics he “dressed very flamboyantly and would play his flute and warp people’s minds.” For the show Kreisberg said they tried to make him “a little more grounded.”
The actor playing the Pied Piper, Andy Mientus, might look and sound familiar. The 28-year-old Broadway star (Les Miserables) is best known for his role as gay Broadway actor Kyle Bishop on the TV series Smash. Mientus is openly bisexual. He’s engaged to fellow actor Michael Arden of Grey’s Anatomy.
