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Whatever happened to the cast of Prison Break? They became Flash villains
Prison Break wrapped up in 2017, so what has the cast of the show been up to in the years since?
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Prison Break has surged in popularity ever since the show hit Netflix this year, reminding us all just how much older we've gotten since the show first debuted in 2005. Starring Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, Prison Break follows a man named Michael who infiltrates a prison he helped design in order to free his wrongfully convicted brother, Lincoln. Breaking out of prison is just the beginning of the brothers' struggles.
The show ran for 5 seasons from 2005 to 2017, and catapulted Wentworth Miller to fame. Considering that it's been almost 20 years since the show first hit the airwaves, it's never been a better time to take a look at what the cast of Prison Break have done in the years since the show's conclusion. As it turns out, the show's leads would both go on to play iconic members of The Flash's rogues gallery.
Prison Break: all the planning it requires to break into jail
Prison Break was almost the television show that never happened. Its core idea — a man gets himself arrested with the express intent of being placed in prison so that he can help someone else escape — didn’t actually come from series creator Paul Scheuring, but instead television producer Dawn Olmstead, who thought it could be the hook for an action adventure format if someone else filled in the blanks. Scheuring agreed, but for awhile, it seemed as if those two were alone in their faith in their belief. A version of the show was even pitched to Fox, which would eventually air the series, in 2003, but the network passed for fear that the show wouldn’t have any reason to keep audiences interested past the titular escape. That was a fear for other executives as well, with other networks also choosing to pass on the project, leading to a short period where Scheuring and Olmstead considered transforming it into either a standalone movie or a miniseries… but, thankfully, calmer heads prevailed, with Fox choosing to greenlight the pilot after the success of its serialized spy-drama 24 made the network look for other serialized shows that might keep audiences coming back week after week.
Prison Break in its prime: In and out and in again, much to the audience's surprise
- Prison Break (Fox, 2005-2009)
- Prison Break: The Final Break (Fox, 2009)
Prison Break ran for four seasons on Fox, gathering both strong reviews from critics and high ratings straight out the gate, with the show placing first in the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics in its debut; almost immediately, Fox granted the show a full season order, and the show’s strong ratings performance repaid that faith throughout its first season. If ratings and reviews were slightly softer in its sophomore season, the show’s success didn’t really start to falter until the third season — a slide that coincided with the show seeming trapped by its original premise, in ways that audiences didn’t necessarily appreciate. (The first season ended with the prison break of the show’s title, but the second season saw the characters captured and sent to a higher-security prison. By season three, there was a sense that the show would be forced into a cycle of characters escaping from prisons before having to escape from even bigger prisons as the story continued.
By season four, ratings were dropping precariously, and critical opinion had turned on the show with more and more people decrying the increasingly over-the-top plot developments and conspiracy theories the characters found themselves tied up in. Fox knew the game was up, and the season was advertised as the final season ahead of its debut, but the network had one final gift for fans who’d stayed the distance: a spin-off TV movie titled Prison Break: The Final Break that tied up loose ends and aired a couple of weeks after the show’s “official” final episode. Prison Break’s success was short but sweet; the series ended four years after its debut.
Well, kind of. But there was some other crime to get to, first.
After Prison Break: Wentworth Miller went on to play Captain Cold on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow
After Prison Break ended, Wentworth Miller was featured in episodes of shows like House, Law & Order: SVU, and Family Guy, but the actor hit his stride as Captain Cold (later known as Citizen Cold) in The Flash on The CW. In DC Comics, Captain Cold is one of The Flash's biggest villains, and is a member of a group of Scarlet Speedster foes who call themselves "The Rogues." Miller appeared in 14 episodes of The Flash as a recurring character, spanning the first four seasons, and then the sixth.
Miller's Captain Cold wasn't only confined to appearing on The Flash. He was a lead character in season 1 of The CW's Legends of Tomorrow, and was a recurring character in the second and third seasons of the show. All together, Miller appeared in 23 episodes of Legends of Tomorrow before the show wrapped up. In addition, he also made appearance in an episode of Batwoman during The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Beyond the DC shows on The CW, Miller had a recurring role on Madam Secretary as Senator Mark Hanson during the sixth season of the political drama show.
After Prison Break: Dominic Purcell played Heat Wave on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow
As any Flash fan can tell you, you can't have Captain Cold without a bit of heat. Dominic Purcell joined his Prison Break co-star Wentworth Miller on The Flash as Heat Wave, another member of The Rogues. Together, the Prison Break stars brought utter mayhem to Barry Allen's life. Purcell continued playing the role in Legends of Tomorrow, where Heat Wave was a main character in seasons one through six. And, of course, Purcell's Heat Wave appeared in Supergirl, Arrow, and Batwoman during The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
Prison Break: Life after death (literally)
- Prison Break: Resurrection (Fox, 2017)
On the one hand, there was no real reason for Prison Break to come back; the story was not only finished, but Miller’s character Michael was dead, having died in the series finale from the first go-around. Both Miller and Dominic Purcell had established themselves elsewhere, and even the fans seemed to have moved on to new shows. Yet, in early 2015, Miller and Purcell started talking about bringing the show back in one form or another… just months before Fox announced that it was planning a 10-episode sequel series that would include both actors.
That series, which would be called alternately Prison Break, Prison Break Season 5, or Prison Break: The Return, wouldn’t air until 2017, revealing that Michael was in fact alive and imprisoned in Yemen under a fake identity — and that he needed Lincoln (Purcell) to help break him out. Look, it’s good to stay true to the promise made by the title, if nothing else…!
The internet asks: Is there a sequel to Prison Break?
There is a sequel to Prison Break in development at Hulu right now. (Well, a second sequel, technically.) TheWrap reports that Hulu has ordered a pilot to be written by Elgin James, who was the showrunner on Mayans M.C. However just because a pilot has been ordered doesn't mean that the series will absolutely hit our eyeballs in the near future. The development process in Hollywood is a long road, but the fact that a Prison Break sequel is even in development in the first place is a promising sign.
The internet asks: What prison was Prison Break filmed in?
Prison Break was filmed at Joliet State Prison in Joliet, Illinois. The prison had been closed for a couple years before the show began filming there, making it an ideal set for Fox River State Penitentiary.
The internet asks: Was Prison Break based on a true story?
No, Prison Break is entirely fictional. (Sorry.)
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