In The Flash’s season 3 finale, we saw Barry Allen sacrifice himself to the Speed Force in order to maintain stability. It was a surprising yet noble move for a character that had spent a majority of the season being selfish with his actions. But that season finale character growth was everything we’ve been waiting for.
We spoke with The Flash star Grant Gustin at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this month, where he teased what we can expect in regards to Barry Allen’s absence and his eventual return from the Speed Force. Because if there’s anything we got out of this it’s 1) Barry Allen is coming back, and 2) We never believed otherwise.
When we pick back up with The Flash in season 4, six months will have gone by for the members of Team Flash. But for Barry, it wasn’t really six months, as Speed Force time is nonlinear. In fact, this experience in the Speed Force might just be that lesson that we’ve been waiting for Barry to learn.
“I think this experience in the Speed Force has been different for him because we’ve seen him go into the Speed Force before and had the Speed Force embody people in his life and teach him the lesson he needs to learn at that point,” Gustin said. “And this time he sacrificed himself to stabilize it. So I think he’s been on his own, and he’s been experiencing his entire life from start to finish again and again and again. I think when he comes out he’s had this awakening and understanding of things that he’s never had before.”
But be warned, the Barry we initially see when he comes out of the Speed Force isn’t the same one we saw enter it.
“When we initially see him he’s kind of confused and jumbled; it’s been a lot,” Gustin said. “He’s not really himself.”
But that’ll only last for an episode, as Gustin previewed, before we see Barry get back on a familiar path that fans who are fans of The Flash’s lighthearted, fun nature will be thrilled to see.
“Moving forward from that, we’ll see a really positive Barry that will be able to appreciate his powers in a way we used to see him appreciate them,” he said. “We’re just going to have more fun this year.”
Watch our full interview with Gustin below:
The Flash season 4 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 8/7c on The CW.
Stay tuned for more The Flash interviews from SDCC!
