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The Flash: Where do we go from here?

We draw ever closer to the premiere of the CW DC Television shows, and while we have spent an entire summer looking backward at what these shows were, it is now time to look forward to what might be coming in the fast approaching new season.

When last we looked in on Central City, Barry Allen had defeated Savitar but with a major cost that needed to be paid.  Without a speedster occupying the Speed Force prison created for Savitar, the Speed Force unleashed a storm that would rip the Universe apart – and someone needed to willingly enter the prison to stop the storm.  Barry said goodbye to his friends and family and stepped into the Speed Force, with no idea just how long he would be there.    So what happens next?

When we did this last week for the Arrow crew we looked at what the new season might bring for each of the main characters and we’ll do the same here.  Starting of course with:

BARRY

Well the latest trailer seems to indicate that Barry is getting pulled out of the Speed Force sooner than some of us thought he would, but that isn’t all that surprising – he is after all the star of the show and television is understandably less willing to replace their lead for an extended period of time.  We do know from interviews with Grant Gustin that Barry won’t quite be himself when he returns, and will spend a little time rediscovering who he is.  The big pieces of news are 1.) that Barry will be getting a new Flash suit this season with a brighter red and more gold lightning bolt accents (and rather early on from the looks of it) and 2.) the Barry/Iris wedding will be happening this year.

IRIS

Candice Patton has been quite excited about the fact that Iris is taking on a leadership role at S.T.A.R. Labs in Barry’s absence and is making herself much more at home with the other members of Team Flash. It’s certainly nice to see the actress excited about where this season is going after the doom and gloom of last season, and it looks like the West/Allen nuptials will be coming in the first half of the season – right around the time of the four part cross over event.

WALLY

During the first week of production on Season four of The Flash, photos leaked of Keiynan Lonsdale wearing the Barry Allen Flash suit rather than his own Kid Flash gear.  This fueled rumors that we would spend longer than expected with Barry in the Speed Force and Wally filling the role of The Flash.  We now know that Barry is returning much sooner than expected and that Wally’s time in the red suit will be short lived.  Lonsdale himself went on record as saying that he feels like Wally has a lot of growing up to do before he can be ready to take on the red jumpsuit and lead Team Flash alone.  We do know that in the absence of Barry, Wally has worked closely with Cisco and the two will have built up a better rapport.

CISCO

Cisco Ramon is lost without his best friend and just wants to bring him home, which looks like it will cause a little conflict between Cisco and Iris.  We don’t know much about what is coming down the pike for Cisco beyond that he’ll soon be meeting his multiverse hopping girlfriends father played by none other than Danny Trejo.

CAITLIN

Doctor Snow is back with Team Flash, but the Producers are hinting that her days as Killer Frost might not be over.  Producer Andrew Kreisberg said that “If you’re a fan of Caitlin Snow, you’ll be very happy with Season four, and if you’re a fan of Killer Frost you’ll be very happy with season four.”  Who knows where that goes, beyond the fact that Team Flash is back to normal fairly quickly in the season.

JOE

We don’t know much about Joe’s arc in season four, beyond the fact that he’ll continue to explore a relationship with the District Attorney Cecille Horton.

HARRISON/HARRY/HR WELLS

The one element no preview so far has shown us is Tom Cavanagh’s role in the upcoming season.  At the end of last season we watched H.R. Wells sacrifice himself in Iris’ place and Earth 2’s Harry Wells promise to stick around for a while to work with Team Flash.  We have learned though that the sixth episode of the season will be titled “When Harry Met Harry” so there is simply no telling what multiverse hijinks will go on, and what Cavanagh has in store for us this year.

JULIAN

Apparently Tom Felton’s Julian Albert will not be a series regular in season four, what this means for the character we have no idea.

RALPH DIBNY

The classic detective with a nose for clues, The Elongated Man Ralph Dibny will be joining The Flash in Season Four as played by Hartley Sawyer (Glory Daze, Young and the Restless.)  Dibny was referenced in The Flash Season One as having gone missing on the day the particle accelerator exploded, so it is awesome to see this being paid off finally.

THE MECHANIC

Kim Engelbrecht has been cast as “The Mechanic” a mysterious character working alongside the season villain Clifford DeVoe.  Nothing is known about The Mechanic, and there is very little corollary in the DC Universe.  

THE THINKER

Neil Sandilands (The 100) has been cast as the main villain of Season Four, Clifford DeVoe aka The Thinker – one of The Flash comic books oldest villains.  Introduced in 1943 as a villain for original Flash Jay Garrick, DeVoe was a former lawyer who took on a career as a criminal mastermind and shot-caller for small time villains.  Later incarnations of The Thinker were almost inhumanly intelligent, and it seems that the TV version may take a cue from other versions of the character.  Producers are billing him as “The Fastest Mind Alive.”

THE TONE

Andrew Kreisberg has spent the summer getting the word out that this season will bring back the lighter tone of Season One and will restore the joy and sense of adventure that made that initial season so successful.  Following on the heels of the oppressively dark Season 3, this is a welcome change.  Another welcome change is that The Flash will not be facing off against another speedster for the entire season, the “I must get faster to defeat [Speedster X]” formula can certainly use a break.

THE CROSSOVER

Just this past weekend it was announced that the CWDC crossover this year will be the four hour “Crisis on Earth X” which appears to be our heroes versus their evil counterparts from another earth in the multiverse.  The poster released to tease the event certainly makes it look like everything goes down at Barry and Iris’ wedding.  

NEXT WEEK:  What to expect from Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow’s third seasons.

IN TWO WEEKS: The DC Universe returns to the CW!

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