The Flash is going to look like a different show when Season 3 arrives in October.
When the premiere opens, Barry has been “living in that blind bliss” with
both of his parents in the “Flashpoint” world, even though he has his memories of the other timeline, and was still zapped by the particle accelerator.
But once he comes out of his bubble, “There are many different changes that Barry discovers, and different relationships,” executive producer Aaron Helbing previewed at the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel.
For starters, “Cisco is an ostentatious billionaire,” Carlos Valdes described. “He’s always flexing how much money he has and how rich he is.” (
See exactly that in the Season 3 trailer.)
Meanwhile, Joe and Barry still work together, but they aren’t as close since the speedster didn’t grow up with the West family. Also a bummer: This timeline’s version of Joe is “very unhappy,” Jesse L. Martin revealed. “Things at home aren’t going well. He’s having a particular issue with [Iris] that doesn’t seem solvable. So Joe gets depressed about it. It starts to affect his work [and] his life. Barry is the one that makes sure that Joe still has a job because things get so dire.”
Iris doesn’t have a history with Barry, either, but the character is “quite similar” to the previous seasons, Candice Patton shared. Despite that, “This is one of the rare shows where to get expand and play as an actor,” the actress added, singling out her Earth-Two adventure.
Other highlights from the panel:
* The Flashpoint storyline is “really affecting
Arrow. You’ll see it on that side mostly,” rather than on
Legends of Tomorrow, EP Todd Helbing revealed, noting that Oliver and Diggle, in particular, will be impacted.
* Season 3 will feature two Big Bads: a yet-to-announced speedster and Dr. Alchemy, who “certainly doesn’t like the Flash,” Aaron Helbing shared. “He’s a bad dude, and he’s going to be a formidable adversary to The Flash and everyone on the team.”
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Harry Potter favorite Tom Felton on his new series regular role: “Any character I play you should see as a threat. There’s definitely some friction between Barry and Julian. He treads on the toes’ of Barry’s expertise as a forensic expert.”
* Wally West’s Flashpoint hero alter ego is “Kid Flash, so I try to play him with a really young, lighthearted, almost cockiness that can sometimes be his downfall,” Keiynan Lonsdal shared. “But he’s in a really good place mentally. He’s never felt more sure of himself.”
*
Arrow‘s Felicity will appear in Episode 2 to offer “advice,” Grant Gustin teased.
* On the topic of including Iris more in the multi-show crossovers, Todd Helbing acknowledged, “It’s this juggle… We try to get everybody in as much as we can. Every year, we want to make them bigger and better and include more people.”
The Flash Season 3 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 8/7c on The CW.
