The Flash: 19 Easter Eggs And References You Have To See

11. Central City

Oh yes, Central City. One of the key differences between Marvel and DC Comics is that, whilst the House Of Ideas sets mostly all of their superhero stories in real-life locales (mostly America, specifically New York City), their Distinguished Competition instead opts for thinly-veiled analogues. Hence Batman bums around Gotham City rather than actual Chicago, and Superman saves the day in the none-more-New York Metropolis. There are actually a handful of Central Cities that exist in the United States, but the one that Barry Allen calls home is a complete fiction, loosely based on Athens, Ohio. Besides Arrow's nearby Starling City, Central might not be the only fictional location that's introduced over the course of The Flash. In the comics at least it's twinned with the neighbouring Keystone City, where Linda Park could possibly have been making her news broadcast from, and where Wally West will someday (presumably) take over activities as the fastest man alive. Eventually in the comics Central City moved to Missouri, and Keystone City is in the adjacent Kansas, with a bridge joining the pair across the Missouri river; a bridge and river you can catch a couple of times in shots of the city during the pilot.