Team Flash defeated Savitar, but when a speed force storm moved over Central City, Barry had no choice but to disappear into the abyss, leaving Iris and all his friends behind. Fans were left with a huge cliffhanger for The Flash Season 4: How will the show even move forward without the titular hero?
Candice Patton, who was attending the Saturn Awards to receive this year’s Best Supporting Actress recognition, gave With An Accent a few clues about how Team Flash will move forward in the wake of Barry’s exit into the speed force.
“We do get to see a different version of Iris,” the actress said. “She’s a little harder, she’s without the love of her life.”
Patton also reportedly confirmed Season 4 picks up six months after Barry entered the speed force in order to save Central City. While that doesn’t seem like an important tidbit on the surface, it’s very telling that CW chose to fast forward. The jump in timeline suggests we may not see Barry in the speed force for very long, just like the way the CW handled the Flashpoint event last year. Barry was only in the Flashpoint timeline for an episode.
Patton also went so far to say she will step up to take over some of Barry’s responsibilities, and with Harry dead (RIP) and Wally still learning how to be a responsible hero, Iris is next in line.
“She’s kind of had to step into this role as the leader of the Flash team.”
This matches with clues from Kid Flash last week. Actor Keiynan Lonsdale told us on our sister site Newsweek that taking over for Barry is not on his radar and he doesn’t think it would be in the viewers’ best interest to skip the progression of his character.
“It’s not something that’s on my radar,” Lonsdale said. “I feel as though there is so much story to tell and Wally has so much growing to do. I’d like to see that journey continue. That's what I think is important. We need to see how these character realistically get to where they are headed for.”
He ended the interview by teasing Season 4 in one word: “changes.”
The Flash returns Oct. 10 on The CW.
