'The Flash' Season 2 Preview: What It Takes to Be a Hero

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Grant Gustin as The Flash

Last season left us with a cliffhanger, but if you’re desperate to know how Barry saved the world from the Singularity, have patience: Season 2 of The Flash starts months later, so you’ll need to wait for the flashbacks. In the meantime though, we asked executive producer Gabrielle Stanton and Carlos Valdes, who plays tech wiz Cisco, what we can expect from the Scarlet Speedster this year.

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On Being a Hero

The first season was about learning to be a hero, but now it’s about just what that word means. “[Barry] will have to juggle his responsibilities as the Flash with his personal life,” Stanton says. Part of that struggle will be keeping his loved ones safe: his season-long battle with Zoom will endanger those he’s most trying to protect.

Related: ‘The Flash’ Season 2: What We Know So Far

It’s equally a problem for Cisco as well. Dr. Wells tells him not only that he has powers, but also that they’re a gift. “When you think about Dr. Wells referring to powers as a gift: Is that really a good thing? Is that really a positive thing considering that Wells’s intentions were always evil ones?” Valdes asks. “There’s definitely some morality troubles there.”

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Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon

Even without powers though, Cisco will still be growing as a person. Particularly in the early going of the season, Valdes says, “He’s still young, still very wide-eyed, which allows him to get overzealous at times. [He will be] learning to hold himself accountable for the mistakes that he makes.”

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Candice Patton as Iris West

On Love

Despite Barry confessing his feelings for Iris (in the real, not alternate time line), it seems like they won’t be together when we first see them. One Tree Hill’s Shantel VanSanten will be introduced this season as Patty Spivot — who, in comic book continuity, has an unrequited crush on Barry Allen. She’s being pitched as a possible love interest for him, so does that mean Iris still isn’t interested in a relationship or that Barry himself has moved on?

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Shantel VanSanten as Patty Spivot

Rumors continue to linger that something may be developing between Cisco and Captain Cold’s sister, Golden Glider, but Valdes refuses to confirm or deny anything. “Lisa Snart’s great,” he says non-committally. “I do know that there’s some romantic ties in the comics with Gypsy.” (Though there are no immediate plans for that character to make an appearance on the show.) What about some of the people he met during the Arrow crossovers like Felicity Smoak or the Black Canary? “What about White Canary?” Valdes shoots back with a laugh. What kind of spin-off would Legends of Tomorrow be if it didn’t have a little Cisco in it?

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Teddy Sears as Jay Garrick and Kett Turton as Eddie Slick

On New/Old Faces

The biggest news, foreshadowed by the winged helmet spitting out of the wormhole last season, is the appearance of not one, but two new versions of the Flash: Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) and Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears). Garrick is actually the original Flash, created in 1940, and, says Stanton, “will serve as a mentor to Barry and help Barry learn more about his abilities.” He has “a unique perspective on what it means to be a hero — to be responsible for protecting a city,” and offers Barry a possible vision of what he may eventually grow to become.

But just because Barry has a new mentor doesn’t mean the old ones won’t be returning. “Harrison Wells will be back this season — but it will not be the Harrison Wells we grew to hate,” Stanton tells us. “This new version of Harrison Wells will create a whole new set of problems for Team Flash as they work to determine his true motives.”

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Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells

The new Wells, presumably, will no longer have a connection to Eobard Thawne, who is now dead. But that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Reverse Flash. Like the Flash himself, he also has had multiple incarnations in the comics. One of those is Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, who will be voiced by genre legend Tony Todd (Candyman).

Unlike last season, when we found out right away who was underneath the mask, it will be a while before we learn Zoom’s identity (which is why Todd will only be providing the voice — he may or may not be the actor we eventually see). Also, Zoom will be attacking Barry with minions rather than facing him directly.

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Adam Copeland as Atom-Smasher

One of those early henchmen is DC mainstay Atom Smasher, played by Adam Copeland — better known to many as former WWE champion Edge. Stanton had previously worked with him on Haven. “So I knew he was a great actor,” she says. But Valdes, who grew up watching professional wrestling, had never met him before. “I was having a real-life Cisco moment,” he says. “I was, like, 'Holy crap, Edge is on the show! This is great!'”

Might this Flash/WWE crossover lead to Valdes showing up in the squared circle? Arrow star Stephen Amell actually competed in the ring this past summer, so it’s not an entirely ridiculous question. “I don’t think I have the chops,” Valdes quickly demurs. “I’ll leave all the real-life heroics to Mr. Amell.”

Season 2 of The Flash premieres Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. on The CW.