As Barry finds out the truth about Wells’ identity, he’ll also face the tough decision of whether or not to go back in time and try to save his mother from Reverse-Flash. It seems that the writers are setting us up for a story similar to the Flashpoint comic book arc, which saw Barry Allen drastically (and tragically) change the future by saving his mother.
Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg opened up a bit about how the show will handle time travel, saying:
“We’re definitely talking about the ramifications of time travel. There are episodes coming up where there is concern of certain events being changed in the past [that] would affect who people are and their relationships with each other. If the past changes, does the present change as well?”
Another possible paradigm shift coming our way could be the revelation of the Flash’s secret identity to his number one fan, Iris West. Iris finding out Barry’s secret would obviously come with some big changes in the series, and while those at PaleyFest refused to confirm whether such a revelation would happen any time soon, actress Candice Patton did comment on what such a discovery would mean:
“I can only imagine that when she finds out Barry and Joe have been lying to her, it’s going to be a huge sense of betrayal. That’s at the base of everything. How could your family… keep something so big from her? It’s going to change everything.”
Speaking of the Wests, one character seemingly headed our way in the near future is Wally West, who comic book readers will recognize as Barry Allen’s sidekick Kid Flash, and the man who takes up the Flash mantle when Barry meets his demise in DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. There’s no word on whether or not that particular storyline is on the horizon, but the showrunners have previously teased their interest in bringing Wally (Iris’ nephew in the comics) to the series.
Executive producer previously noted that the Wests were made African American in the series in part to set up the introduction of Wally (who was re-imagined as African American in the New 52 relaunch) later on. Now, it sounds like the writers are making good on that promise and eyeing a season two debut for Kid Flash, as evidenced by this comment from Berlanti:
“That’s our hope. And we’ve already been picked up for a second season so I think if we were going to do something like that, we would do it next season.”
Be sure to catch The Flash when it returns from hiatus tomorrow, March 17th, 2015, on the CW.