The Flash’s Latest Development May Connect To Crisis On Infinite Earths

When I sat down to watch last night’s episode of The Flash, “Snow Pack,” I had no idea of how important it’d wind up being. Not only were we introduced to the concept of the Negative Speed Force, but Nora West-Allen has gone off the deep end and will soon be siding with villains! And if that weren’t enough, the Icicle succeeded into turning Caitlin Snow’s mother into a metahuman before he met his end. Yeah, there was a lot to take in.

For the time being, I’d like to focus on the Negative Speed Force, an idea that’s finally made its way over from the comics.

Basically, it’s kind of like the Speed Force we’ve come to know – only it was created by Eobard Thawne himself. Effectively allowing him to avoid detection by other speedsters, it’s now being used by Nora so that she could return to 2019 unbeknownst to Barry. On the downside, though, it appears to have corrupted her.

Naturally, this has caused some to theorize that the Negative Speed Force will play into how Barry ends up vanishing during “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” but I’m not so sure. Though his disappearance was foretold by that future newspaper headline hanging over our heads since the pilot episode aired, I wouldn’t doubt if Nora’s changes to the timeline will ultimately alter that.

After all, The CW president Mark Pedowitz once said that this fall’s crossover “may be a remix of its comic book source material,” therefore I’m thinking that even if Barry winds up going missing temporarily, it’ll ultimately be Oliver Queen who bites the dust. Plus, The Flash has been renewed for a sixth season, and it’s doubtful the network’s most popular series will go on without its headliner for the back half.

Still, it’s a virtual certainty that the Reverse-Flash will heavily factor into “Crisis on Infinite Earths” once we get into the thick of it, as that’s also been guaranteed by the aforementioned newspaper article. Whether or not the Negative Speed Force plays a part in that – or causes the Scarlet Speedster to vanish for a time – remains to be seen, but I don’t think the producers would incorporate this idea lightly with no intention of revisiting it.

The Flash airs on Tuesday nights on The CW.