| Joe West | |
|---|---|
| Arrowverse character | |
.jpg) Jesse L. Martin as Joe West | |
| First appearance | |
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | |
| Portrayed by | Jesse L. Martin |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Joseph West[1] |
| Affiliation | Team Flash |
| Spouse | Francine West (deceased) |
| Significantothers | Cecile Horton |
| Children |
|
| Nationality | American |
Joseph West is a fictional character portrayed byJesse L. Martin inThe CW'sArrowverse franchise. Created byGeoff Johns,Greg Berlanti andAndrew Kreisberg, the character was introduced in thepilot episode ofThe Flash. He is the legal guardian (later father-in-law) of protagonistBarry Allen / Flash and the father ofIris West,Wally West, and Jenna West. Joe works at the Central City Police Department initially as a detective, heading itsmetahuman task force, and later as the captain, aiding Barry in keepingCentral City safe from superpowered and dangerous criminals. Martin has received positive reviews for his performance as Joe.
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Inseason one, Central City Police Department (CCPD) detective Joe West becomes the legal guardian to his neighborBarry Allen after Barry's motherNora was murdered and his fatherHenry convicted. Joe remains convinced Henry killed Nora, despite Barry's insistence of witnessing mysteriousspeedsters fighting that night and pursuit of other claims ofmetahuman activities to establish Henry's innocence. Several year later, Joe realizes that Barry may have been right after theS.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator explodes and transforms Barry and otherCentral City individuals into metahumans. He aids in Barry's crime-fighting efforts as the costumed speedster known asthe Flash and agrees to help exonerate Henry. Joe becomes one of the few who knows Barry's secret early on, alongsideCaitlin Snow andCisco Ramon, and he tells Barry to not reveal this secret for his daughterIris's safety.[2][3] Joe is aware that Iris and his partnerEddie Thawne have been dating, and although initially a bit upset, ultimately gives them his blessing.[4][5] Joe secretly investigates S.T.A.R. Labs' directorHarrison Wells.[6] He, Barry, Caitlin and Cisco ultimately discover "Wells" is actuallyEobard Thawne, Nora's killer.[7] Joe is powerless when Eddie sacrifices himself to erase the Reverse-Flash seemingly from existence.[8]
Inseason two, Joe becomes head of the CCPD's metahuman task-force, working with Cisco andPatty Spivot.[9] He relies on Cisco's inventions to deal with superhuman criminals and becomes a mentor to the two. Joe later struggles with his disintegrated marriage when his estranged wifeFrancine resurfaces.[1] He later tells Iris, who believed her mother was dead based on Joe's lies, that Francine is actually alive and a former addict.[10] Francine reveals to Joe that she is dying of aterminal illness; Iris learns that Francine had given birth to Joe's son eight months after leaving him, and initially hides this fact from her father.[11] Supported by Barry, Iris ultimately tells Joe about his sonWally who eventually shows up at their home.[12] Once they are introduced, their connection is uneasy; Joe is unsure of how to be a father to Wally, and Wally is somewhat resentful that his detective father was not there for him.[13] But afterHunter Zolomon / Zoom kidnaps Wally, father and son become close.[14] After Wally is exposed to Harry's dark matter experiment,[15] Joe suspects Wally has become a metahuman.[16] Joe gets captured during an attempt to neutralize Zolomon, however, Barry defeats Zolomon and saves the multiverse.[17]
Inseason three, Joe experiences radical differences after Barry creates the alternateFlashpoint timeline.[18] Changes to Joe's life are made even after the timeline is reset, primarily that he and Iris are not speaking because Joe never said that Francine was alive. However, they settle matters after Barry reveals the timeline changes.[19] Joe fears for Wally's life after discovering Wally's dreams as a speedster and was badly injured in the erased timeline.[20] After Wally becomes a speedster, however, Joe eventually accepts his son's destiny thanks to H. R.[21] He also begins to move on from his widowhood by datingCecile Horton.[20][22] After the demise ofSavitar, Barry atones for creating Flashpoint by entering theSpeed Force, entrusting Central City to Joe and Team Flash.[23]
Inseason four, Joe learns that Cecile is pregnant with his child.[24] Having a child young enough to be their grandchild causes him and Cecile to initially experience amidlife crisis.[25][26] Joe and Cecile attend Barry and Iris's wedding ceremony, but it is suddenly interrupted by invaders from theNazi-dominatedEarth-X led by theDark Arrow and hisKryptonian wifeOvergirl. Barry and his allies fight the invaders, while Wally takes Joe and Cecile to safety.[27] Afterwards,John Diggle officiates Barry and Iris's wedding in an impromptu ceremony despite Joe's absence.[28] When Barry is on trial after being framed for "murder", Joe considers framingMarlize DeVoe to prove Barry's innocence, but is talked out of doing it byRalph Dibny.[29] After Barry is exonerated, Joe is among those who celebrate with him.[30] When Cecile goes into labor during Barry's final battle withClifford DeVoe / Thinker, Joe stays by Cecile as Caitlin helps to deliver their child; following DeVoe's demise, he and Cecile later name their newborn daughter Jenna Marie West. His friends and family also meetNora West-Allen, Barry's and Iris's future daughter and therefore Joe's yet-to-be born granddaughter.[31]
Inseason five, Barry tells Joe that Nora is beginning to annoy him by spending so much time with him. Joe pacifies Barry by revealing that Nora's situation is identical to Barry's when he was a child.[32] Joe is later held hostage by the masked serial killerCicada, but saved due to Cisco's intervention. He later tells Iris he thinks Cicada is a father because of how he held Jenna's blanket and talked about family while holding his hostage.[33] After Nora's relationship with Iris worsens, she decides to stay with Joe for a while.[34] Eventually, using all the information gathered by Joe and Team Flash, detective Sherloque announces Cicada's true identityOrlin Dwyer.[35] After the defeat of Dwyer,[36] and his niece's alternate future selfCicada II, and the erasure of Nora from the timeline, Joe commiserates with Barry and Iris over their loss. CCPD captainDavid Singh, having been promoted to Chief of Police, names Joe as his replacement.[37]
Inseason six, Wally voices his suspicions about Iris's recent behavior to Joe; both are unaware that "Iris" is an impostor and the real one is trapped in a dimension called theMirrorverse.[38] Joe starts to investigate businessmanJoseph Carver who sendsRagdoll to kill him. After Joe's car is sabotaged, Singh urges him to go intowitness protection; but he refuses. Following the different attacks by Ragdoll where one hadSunshine sprung from police custody and another had Cecile's life threatened, Joe accepts Singh's offer, unaware that "Singh" is actually an impostor from the Mirrorverse, and the real Singh's whereabouts unknown.[39] Barry, having realized what happened to Iris, visits Joe and tells him about this.[40] Following Carver's murder, Joe is released from witness protection and joins forces with Team Flash to rescue Iris from the Mirrorverse.[41]
Inseason seven, Joe meetsKristen Kramer who wants to arrestFrost.[42] Though Joe warns Frost about this, she refuses to hide.[43] Kramer tells Joe she dislikes metahumans because a platoon she was part of was killed by a metahuman that they trusted. Despite Joe's attempts to defend Frost in court, she ultimately resigns herself to life imprisonment without parole.[44] Some time later, Kramer asks Joe to bring in Barry to discuss metahuman transfers after getting information thatRainbow Raider went missing, later revealing she had created bullets containing the metahuman cure with the governor's approval. Cecile advises Joe that Kramer must stop her hunt on her own, leading to Joe resigning from the CCPD to remain righteous.[45] Cecile later reveals gaps in Kramer's past to Joe. After investigating, Joe reveals Kramer had worked with her enemies and intentionally led her unit into an ambush.[46] Meanwhile, Joe offers Kramer his help, but she refuses and threatens to have him arrested. During a second meeting however, she reveals it was her adoptive brother, Adam Creyke, who led her men into the ambush, though she blamed herself ever since. She eventually asks Joe to help her find Creyke.[47] Joe and Kramer are attacked while staking out Creyke's boat,[48] but ultimately trap their attacker, Creyke, who reveals he betrayed Kramer and the military as revenge for experiments he endured due to his abilities. Joe stops Kramer from killing Creyke and they arrest him.[49] Joe later attends a ceremony where Barry and Iris renew their wedding vows.[50]
Inseason eight, it is mentioned that Joe has died six months prior toDespero's arrival as Barry has no memory of it.[51] It turned out that theReverse-Flashpoint timeline was created by Thawne who had Joe pushed onto the tracks in front of a moving train. Joe is resurrected after Barry undoes the Reverse-Flashpoint timeline.[52]
Executive producersGreg Berlanti andAndrew Kreisberg, andDC Comics CCOGeoff Johns, created the character of Joe West forthe CW seriesThe Flash. In January 2014,Jesse L. Martin was cast in the role, described as "an honest, blue-collar cop who is a surrogate father to Barry", and the biological father of Iris West.[58] Although Barry's foster father in the comics is Darryl Frye,[59] and Iris' father during theBronze Age of Comic Books was Ira West,[60] and William West since the launch ofthe New 52,[61] Joe West is an original creation for the TV series.[62] However, like Iris' family in the comics since the launch of the New 52, he and Iris were written asAfrican-American for the TV series.[63] Regarding Joe's relationship with Barry, Martin said, "When something is bothering [Barry], he will come to [Joe]. He won't go to Harrison Wells to talk about his real life. He comes to [Joe]."[64] Martin also reprised his role in the TV crossover event "Crisis on Earth-X".[65] In season five, Joe made less appearances due to Martin taking a medical leave of absence after suffering a back injury, and thus Joe became anunseen character before Martin's return.[66] On April 13, 2022, it was announced that Martin would not return as a series regular for season nine, though he would still recur.[67]
Reviewing thepilot episode ofThe Flash,IGN's Jesse Schedeen praised the dynamic between Joe and Barry, calling it "solid".[68] In 2015, Leah Thomas ofBustle ranked Joe fifth in her list of "original characters who help complete DC Comics' TV Universe".[62] Irina Curovic ofComic Book Resources felt that Joe lacked a clear purpose in season 3 since, unlike the first two seasons where he was an important ally for Barry in catching criminals, "the third season mostly used Joe for the purposes of exposition". She felt that for this reason, the series no longer needed him.[69]Screen Rant's Jason Berman ranked Martin eighth on his 2016 list "20 Best Actors in theArrowverse".[70] The following year, Katerina Daley of the same website included Joe in her list "7 Best (And 8 Worst) Arrowverse Characters", saying, "One of the most loving and committed fathers on television right now, Joe West portrayed with beautiful conviction by the esteemed Jesse L. Martin, is everything that a father should be."[71]
| Arrow | |
|---|---|
| The Flash | |
| Supergirl | |
| Legends of Tomorrow | |
| Black Lightning | |
| Batwoman | |
| Animated series | |
| Characters | |
| Crossovers | |
| Related | |
