Get ready for ‘The Flash’ season 3 with our extensive preview….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
For an entire season, Barry Allen was tormented by a speedster named Zoom, who was faster, stronger and more maniacal than anyone he had ever faced before. No matter how hard Barry ran, he could never catch up to Zoom, who always seemed to be three steps ahead of him at every turn.
After losing his powers and then gaining them back with a greater understanding of the Speed Force, Barry capped off season 2 by defeating Zoom but not before the evil Earth-2 version of Hunter Zolomon killed his father Henry Allen. As happy as Barry was that he defeated Zoom, he still couldn’t live with another death in his family and he finally decided to do something about it.
So with every ounce of his energy, Barry traveled back in time to the night his mother Nora was killed and instead of watching as the Reverse-Flash killed her, thus setting off the chain of events that led to him becoming The Flash, he opted to intervene. Barry kicked the crap out of the Reverse-Flash and saved his mother’s life — but in stopping that murder, he may have unwittingly reset the entire timeline not only for himself but also for everything and everybody around him.
The cataclysmic results of Barry’s decision to save his mother will kick things off for ‘The Flash’ season 3 in a story known as “Flashpoint”
Reset Button
The ‘Flashpoint’ storyline in the comic books had far reaching effects on the entire DC Universe and that’s expected to be the same on the CW shows that also include ‘Arrow’, ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.
Obviously the main focus will be on ‘The Flash’ when Barry wakes up in a new world after saving his mother all those years ago. What Barry finds out in rapid order as he discovers a world where his mother didn’t die is that his old memories — including that kiss he shared with Iris in the finale — are starting to fade away and he’s remembering less and less of his old life before he hit the reset button.
“In the same sense that he’s forgetting a lot of memories, it means he’s forgetting his powers too,” Grant Gustin told DC All Access. “It’s like he’s having a full ‘Back to the Future’ moment, where essentially his hand is disappearing in front of him.”
The repercussions from Barry’s decision to save his mother will be far reaching — remember all the events that followed after the Reverse-Flash killed her — and he soon starts to realize how selfish it was to fix what he felt was broken without taking everybody else’s lives into consideration.
“Barry is the only one that knows the timeline is different, and his memories are starting to get replaced from the previous timeline with new memories, like graduating high school and graduating college, moments with his family,” Gustin explained. “When he realizes those memories are replacing other memories, that’s when he stars to realize how selfish of a decision this was and that maybe he should try to put things back the way they were.”
Kid Flash
Last season saw the introduction of Wally West on ‘The Flash’ for the first time, but at no point during the season did he get super speed and join his buddy Barry Allen on the fast track. That all changes during season 3 although how Wally gets his powers and eventually becomes Kid Flash remains to be seen.
It appeared like Wally was going to get those powers last season after he was struck by the power surge at STAR Labs, but he wasn’t running any faster at that point. When season 2 picks up, Wally will definitely be donning the Kid Flash outfit and helping to stop criminals who are attacking Central City.
“Kid Flash is a big part of ‘Flashpoint,'” Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays Wally West said at San Diego Comic Con.
Jesse L. Martin, who plays Wally’s father Joe West, says that the character will change a lot from season 2 to season 3 but he’s still definitely the same person inside.
“Wally is definitely in Joe’s life,” added Jesse L. Martin. “He’s definitely Joe’s son, but Wally’s got a life that Joe knows nothing about.”
Speaking of parents, we also know that Caitlin’s mother will be appearing on this season of ‘The Flash’ and episode 7 directed by Kevin Smith will also showcase the return of Killer Frost — Caitlin’s Earth-2 doppelganger.
Meanwhile, Cisco is enjoying his new life in the reset ‘Flashpoint’ universe after selling off some of his tech and making billions. He’s now the new boss over at STAR Labs (which isn’t called STAR Labs at the start of the season).
One big question at the start of season 2 is where is Harrison Wells? Remember, he was killed by Eobard Thawne aka the Reverse-Flash after murdering Barry’s mother and he assumed Wells’ identity.
The Big Bad
Outside of the reset ‘Flashpoint’ universe, there will also be a pair of villains as the primary antagonists during ‘The Flash’ season 3. According to the stars of the show, there will be one speedster and one human causing all the havoc in Central City this season.
The Black Flash is expected to rear his ugly head after a brief appearance last season when he came and took the body of Zoom away following his battle with Barry. The Black Flash is essentially death for anybody who dies while in possession of the Speed Force.
The other big bad in season 3 is Dr. Alchemy — a famous villain from the DC Universe.
In the comics (the most common story), Dr. Alchemy is Albert Desmond, a brilliant yet troubled chemist who exhibits multiple personality disorder. Much like Two-Face from the Batman universe, Dr. Alchemy has one side of his personality who is a regular, law abiding citizen. The other half is an evil criminal hell bent on doing bad things.
Dr. Alchemy in ‘The Flash’ will be voiced by Tobin Bell, who you probably know best as the serial killer Saw in ‘The Saw’ franchise.
There’s also the addition of Tom Felton — best known as Draco Malfoy from the ‘Harry Potter’ films — who will be playing a forensic scientist alongside Barry this season. The new character — Julian Albert — seems suspiciously like the alter ego of Dr. Alchemy (Albert Desmond). It’s hard to believe ‘The Flash’ would cast someone like Felton as a series regular if he didn’t have a major part to play this season.
My guess is Felton is actually Dr. Alchemy.
Love Is in the Air
Throughout the first two seasons of ‘The Flash’, there have been constant hints that Barry and Iris would eventually get together. It seems like every time they come close, something disastrous happens that prevents them from actually falling in love.
At the end of last season, Barry and Iris shared a passionate kiss after Zoom was defeated and it looked like they were finally headed towards destiny where the end up as husband and wife. Instead, Barry decides to go back in time to save his mother’s life, which once again resets the timeline and takes him out of Iris’ orbit.
Thankfully, Candice Patton, who plays Iris, says that kiss will still play a big part in ‘The Flash’ season 3.
“I think you can rest assured that the Barry and Iris relationship, we’ll finally see that come to fruition in some form,” Patton said. “I think Grant said it — Barry didn’t forget that kiss. So I think if and when he comes back from ‘Flashpoint’ he’s going to do everything he can to kind of make that relationship work.”
The End of Flashpoint
Obviously, ‘The Flash’ season 3 kicks off with the ‘Flashpoint’ storyline but rest assured that won’t eat up the whole run this year.
“Flashpoint doesn’t last all season long,” Gustin said. “But there are permanent ramifications.”
How deep with ‘Flashpoint’ affect the characters? What relationships will still survive the test of time? Find out when ‘The Flash’ season 3 debuts this Tuesday night at 8pm ET on the CW and stay tuned all season long for recaps on Nerdcore Movement!
