The Flash just finished one of its biggest seasons yet, with a future version of Barry Allen himself turning out to be the season long villain and then after defeating him, the real Barry Allen is now stuck in the speed force as punishment for screwing with the timeline.
Season 4 will pick up six months after that fateful day where Barry left his family, team and the love of his life, Iris, standing there while he unexpectedly just walks into the speed force with no way out. This means Central City is without its Scarlet Speedster and heroes like Kid Flash and Vibe will have to step up. So what does this mean for Barry Allen’s fate on the show? While San Diego Comic-Con did confirm Barry Allen will indeed return (which we all presumed), it didn’t reveal how. However, the new teaser and tidbits from the panel did give us an idea about how the season will move forward. Here’s everything we know.
Less Time Travel
A fan stepped up to the mic and asked Executive Producer Todd Helbing if he can explain how Savitar existed in the first place.
"There's a reason we are not doing time travel in Season 4,” the EP said.
The last three big bads were speedsters, and Barry messing with time has caused pretty every single problem in every seen so far. Finally, we can all sit back, relax, and enjoy a ride that doesn't involve Barry going back in time to fix his life.
No Speedster Villain
This season's villain won’t be one of the fastest men alive, but he will have one of the fastest brains the Arrowverse has ever seen. This big bad is none other than The Thinker, Clifford DeVoe, teased in The Flash Season 3 by Abra Kadabra who said he is the most powerful villain The Flash would ever face. He’ll be played by Neil Sandilands, who fans may recognize as Titus from The 100. Read more about DeVoe here.
Gypsy & Vibe
Carlos Valdes teased Gypsy is going to have a larger role in Season 4. She and Vibe are going to explore a bit more of a romantic relationship.
“Jessica Camacho… she showed up, and I didn’t know what this was going to be like… because it’s supposed to be a romance… Instantly, we hit it off,” Valdes shared. “She really got the material. She really committed to the character… I’m looking forward to doing a lot more of that.”
Breacher
With Gypsy's larger role on Earth 1 comes another one: her father. Even more exciting than the Breacher himself is the fact he’s being played by Danny Trejo. He’s described as a imposing bounty hunter hailing from Earth-19 who aims to prevent travelers (like *cough* Vibe) from threatening his daughter’s or his planet's well being. Carlos Valdes said when he heard about Trejo’s casting he “pooped his pants.”
The Mechanic
A lady villain is coming to The Flash, but only as a supporting character. She’ll be #2 to The Thinker. Kim Engelbrecht (Dominion) is bringing the character to life. She’s a devoted and talented engineer who builds tech for DeVoe.
Tension Between Iris & Barry
When the speed force storm came to Central City, Team Flash was ready to fight against it together. But Barry didn’t let that happen. Without taking more than a second to think about it, he said his brief goodbye and walked away. Iris is not going to forget this, said Candace Patton at SDCC.
“For me, Iris, she’s devastated that he’s gone into the Speed Force and that they didn’t really have a discussion about it,” Patton revealed. “We pick up Season 4, Iris has set her focus on being the lead of Team Flash.”
Joe Gets Serious
Cecile Horton, District Attorney of Central City, is ready to take the next step with Joe West. She knows Kid Flash and The Flash are actually Wally and Barry and even though Joe hesitated at first, they’re relationship will move forward.
“Apparently, we’re going to get a little bit more serious. That’s really I can say," said Jesse L Martin.
Lighter Tone
When Todd Helbing said, “"We are trying to lighten the tone a bit in Seaosn 4,” the SDCC crowd screamed and clapped.That’s because when The Flash first started it was known for it’s jokes and positive perspective. Needless to say, things got particularly dark in Season 3. Just look at evil Barry Allen...we don’t need any more of that. It’s time for Cisco to bring back the one liners and hopefully Barry won’t be so sappy and mopey once he gets out of the speed force.
Caitlin Snow?
The trailer for The Flash Season 4 may as well been a recap of Season 3. There was barely any new footage, but we did get a glimpse of Caitlin Snow and some fans noticed she didn’t quite seem herself. And Danielle Panabaker said something suspicious when the moderator asked about her appearance in the footage. “I don’t know is that me?”
At the end of The Flash Season 3 after aiding Savitar as Killer frost, she makes nice with Team Flash but eventually decides to part ways so she can rediscover herself. Either Panabaker is just trying to keep fans on the edge of their seat or her statement could hold some truth. What if this is a different version of Caitlin Snow?
All Panabaker said in the panel about her character in Season 4 is, “No one is going to be disappointed.”
What do you think of where The Flash Season 4 is headed so far? Let us know in the comments.
