Is 'The Flash' doing Flashpoint in season 3?
Wondering what may be in store for The Flash season 3 after Barry’s shocking move by saving his mother in the past? Viewers may want to look to the comics, specifically the Flashpoint series.
Preceding DC Comics’ 2011 relaunch of 52 of its titles - dubbed The New 52 - storylines converged for a crossover arc called Flashpoint, which was written by Geoff Johns, now an executive producer on The Flash and the Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics.
Spoiler alert for those who may not have read it yet (though you really should!), Barry Allen finds himself in an alternate timeline in which his mother is no longer dead, and most of the world’s heroes are more like villains these days - Aquaman is at war with Wonder Woman; Batman is Thomas Wayne, not Bruce Wayne; Captain Cold is actually a Central City hero named Citizen Cold.
Though Barry believes the Reverse-Flash to be at fault for the changes, it’s revealed that Barry himself altered the timeline by going back to save his mom. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) did during The Flashs second season finale on Tuesday night.
After defeating Zoom (Teddy Sears) and losing his father Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp), Barry decided he had sacrificed too much, so he traveled back in time to stop the Reverse-Flash from killing his mother Nora (Michelle Harrison). He achieved his goal and watched as the season 1 finale Flash, who weighed doing that exact thing last year, disappeared with a smile.
SIDE NOTE: Most fans thought The Flash came within inches of going down the Flashpoint route in last year’s finale before Barry decided against saving his mother.
The disappearing act certainly signals a major change in the timeline as a result of Barry’s actions, but how major? That’s obviously the topic of season 3. But will the show go full-on Flashpoint?
ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: During Flashpoint, Barry tries to get his powers back by recreating the accident that gave him his super speed in the first place - just like what The Flash did a few episodes prior to the finale.
While The Flash probably won’t introduce characters like Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Batman because of DC’s film division, the show has a tendency to put a twist on the comics. Take the powerless vigilante angle: The Flash has already toyed with the idea that Robert Queen (Jamey Sheridan) was The Arrow on Earth-2 instead of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), which could be easily transferred to the Flashpoint storyline.
If The Flash decides to go down the Flashpoint route, the question remains: How much will this affect Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and now Supergirl? Technically, those storylines could feasibly continue without a direct effect - these heroes move on in this timeline, while Barry has created an entirely new timeline in which his mother never died.
But with CW Chief Mark Pedowitz promising the network’s most epic crossover event yet in December, fans could conceivably see all worlds affected, with the crossover possibly serving to realign the storytelling. Seriously, who says Hourman’s (Patrick J. Adams) arrival on Legends of Tomorrow, and the impending introduction of the Justice Society of America, doesn’t have to do with Flashpoint? The possibilities are truly endless.
The Flash will return to The CW this fall. In the meantime, read our postmortem with John Wesley Shipp, who discusses the reveal of the man in the iron mask, the real Jay Garrick. Plus: Did The Flash introduce Black Flash?
