Grant Gustin made his first appearance as Barry Allen on yesterday's episode of Arrow.
The Arrow season finale/Flash backdoor pilot is off but instead a standalone Flash pilot on the works,
David Rapaport confirmed Iris West and Detective West as supporting character to the show. Below is a leaked description of the supporting characters:
IRIS - 22-28 - African-American - As smart as she is beautiful, Iris is in grad school studying psychology. She's also Barry's mile a minute, fast-talking, quick-witted best friend. Her father, Detective West, took in Barry when his mother was murdered, and his father was wrongly accused and imprisoned for her murder. In a tough childhood for Barry, she was the one "not tough" thing. She's unaware of Barry's strong feelings for her.
DETECTIVE WEST - Late 40s to Early 50s - African American -Detective West is an honest, blue-collar cop who's seen it all. A soulful, funny caring father to Iris, and a surrogate father to Barry, West came up through the foster system himself. He took in Barry after his mother's murder and his father's imprisonment. He believes in Barry and supports Barry's efforts to prove his father's innocence.
Suprisingly, Iris West and Detective West are black. Coloring white characters seems to be the trend. LOL
Also, future Flashes Wally West and Bart Allen could be also be black or mixed race.