It’s been four months since Iris West lived. It’s been four months since Barry Allen entered the Speed Force. And it’s been four months since we’ve last seen our favorite faces on The Flash.
But, luckily, the wait is almost over. Four down, one month to go.
The Flash executive producers Andrew Kreisberg and Todd Helbing talked to DC Comics’ Tiffany Smith about The Flash‘s season finale, as well as teased what we can expect in Season 4.
When we last left Barry Allen, he had given himself over to the Speed Force after a season where his selfishness led to Flashpoint and then to its subsequent consequences. But, come on, none of us ever believed that we’d just seen the last of Barry Allen on his own show.
“It’s obviously no great surprise that The Flash will continue to be part of the TV show The Flash,” Kreisberg said. “Barry does come back, but the circumstances of his return and what he’s like when he comes back from this experience is part of the fun and the surprise of the season premiere.”
One of the things that The Flash was heavily criticized for was its darker tone. While the producers did set out for a darker feel — intentionally — in Season 3, they acknowledge that the darkness got out of control. But with that said, fans can expect The Flash to return to its lighter roots.
“This year since we did that — we’re not going to out-dark ourselves — we really sort of wanted to like pivot and sort of lean into like fun and light and brightness. The title premiere is “The Flash Reborn,” and for us it’s a little bit like a restart and just diving into more comedy and more fun and more brightness and more excitement.”
For the past three seasons, The Flash and his team have gone up against rival speedsters in reverse Flash, Zoom, and Savitar. But The Flash producers wanted to try something different. So Season 4’s villain won’t be another speedster. But that doesn’t make our new Big Bad, The Thinker, any less of a threat. Whereas it usually was a physical contest, it’s now going to be a mental fight.
“The world’s fastest man against the world’s fastest mind,” Kreisberg teased. “We tend to think of The Flash as an athlete — as a runner. So much of his previous seasons have been about training harder or running faster. But he’s up against a villain this season that he can’t outrun. He has to out-think.”
The Flash Season 4 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 8/7c on The CW.
