THE FLASH Post-Mortem: A Hero Is Discovered, Villains and Mysteries Revealed & What’s Coming Next This Season

The Flash Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen
The Flash (L-R): Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW

Now that everyone has met Barry Allen, watched him discover his new superhero ability and saw how there may be others similarly effected, THE FLASH will continue to introduce cool new characters (some villains, some heroes) and their unique superhuman abilities as the first season unfolds.

At a recent press conference, creators and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns along with stars Grant Gustin and Tom Cavanagh talked about what is upcoming on the show in Season 1.

Story Through Barry Allen’s Eyes

ANDREW:  We experience the show through Barry:  Who people are and are they what they seem? We are learning that as he is learning.  It is his evolution as a hero. This show is “Flash Begins.” Everybody is just starting.  When Barry says in episode 2, “You know, we were all struck by that bolt,” it is for everybody on the show.  They were all changed that night — whether they know it or not.

Barry’s Three Fathers

ANDREW:  One of the touchstones we have is “Searching for Bobby Fisher” which is another movie we all love.  The character in that sort of had three different fathers. There is a little bit of that going on here.  One father represents the heart, one represents the mind, and one represents the soul.  A lot of the early episodes and even some of the episodes we’re working on now for the middle of the season are about Barry being faced with choices and having to help his fathers deal with each other.  Obviously, when we open the pilot, we see that Joe is pretty definitive that Henry killed Barry’s mother, and Joe is now faced with this man that he put in prison that he sort of demonized for 14 years was actually innocent. Joe pretty much raised Barry without Henry’s involvement, and now he is sort of having to go back and restart that relationship. And also Joe learning to work with Wells.  Some of our favorite scenes to write are watching this sort of chess game going on between Joe and Wells.

GRANT:  I think the biggest thing for Barry early on is that Joe believes in him.  When Joe finds out, he instills that belief in him.  It makes him believe that his father is innocent, which is the biggest weight Barry’s been carrying by himself for 14 years.  So I think that is the most important shift that we are seeing in the first few episodes — having Joe completely have his back.

Iris’ Journey

ANDREW:  Iris in the comic books is a famous award-winning journalist. So we are seeing her from the ground up. She is starting as a blogger, and as the season progresses, we are going to see her really take journalism to heart.  That is really going to be her beginning. The Flash appearing and her interest in him, it has really changed the course of her life too — and it is really what sets her on the path to becoming her ultimate comic book character.  It is going to create all sorts of problems because Joe wants Iris to not to know; and more than anything in the world, Barry is dying to tell her.  It is going to lead to some heartbreaking things that happen early on; and also some hilariously funny things that happen early on.

Caitlin & Cisco

GEOFF:  There are so many characters that are from the lore. Obviously, Caitlin Snow in the comics becomes Killer Frost, and Cisco becomes Vibe.  But I wouldn’t necessarily count on that same track happening.

Firestorm aka Ronnie Raymond

ANDREW:  There was a time when Caitlin’s fiancee was not Ronnie. It was just one of those serendipitious things where it all came together. That was what was funny about it.  We didn’t even sit down and say, “Oh, we should have the comic book villains have been planning to get married.” It just sort of worked out that way.  Another happy surprise.  We are so thrilled Robbie [Amell] is amazing and so much fun to work with.  He is so excited about it. Like jumping up and down. Every once in awhile he will just be like, “But the suit won’t be like that yellow, right?”

The Mystery of Dr. Wells

GEOFF:  Harrison Wells is a new character that was created.  The name, obviously, is brand new.

ANDREW:  I think there is obviously more than meets the eye when you see Harrison Wells.  But what his motives are?  His actions at the end of Episode 2 are one thing, but what he says is something very different.

GEOFF: That’s very cryptically appropriate.

ANDREW:  So what his motivations are is the big mystery of the season and tracking that through has been a very interesting ride.

TOM: I think it bodes well for the viewers if there are characters that we can’t talk about.  So when they say, “We’d love to tell you, but we can’t.”  That’s probably good for the people that are going to watch the show.

GEOFF:  Secrets to unveil.

GREG:  Regardless of what his secret motivations may be, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the show is just Wells, on the surface, in terms of his relationship with Barry, which is one of the primary relationships of the show.  It is so nice to see Barry interact with different mentors.

GEOFF:  Even when you are writing it, you are writing these very sweet scenes between Tom and Grant, and you watch them on screen and you see the camaraderie and the friendship and the respect — but also know that there is something deeper going on.  That makes it exciting and sometimes it makes it sad.

TOM:  It is extremely fun to play, having so many different levels at work. The way this has been crafted, it is really enjoyable.  We have a lot of fun doing it.

MetaHuman Motivations

GREG:  We are really cognizant about not having too many people affected by the particle accelerator just be villains.  We like to change it up.  So sometimes it’s someone who is good.  Sometimes there is a villain who, like in the case of [Captain] Cold, it’s someone who is not affected at all.

Captain Cold

GEOFF:  I was on set talking to Wentworth [Miller] and I said, “Hey, if we were going to have you team up with somebody, is there someone you want to work with?” And we talked about the character a bit and he said, “Dominic [Purcell],” without missing a beat.  He said, “I think he’d do it.”  He was really excited getting together with him again. [Captain Cold] is kind of  this guy who pulls jobs very carefully, and suddenly there is something else in the city and he has to change his game up. He has to figure out how to deal with this new threat in Central City to his way of life. So it is all about him evolving and surviving in the new world order, and with that guns are not going to do it. So he has to have something a little stronger.

ANDREW:  It’s the beginning.  It is Leonard Snart’s origins.  He’s not the villain we see in the comics, though we are going to get there.

The Flash v. Arrow Crossover Episodes

ANDREW:  They really are very important episodes for what Barry’s going through and for what Oliver’s going through. We have one of the biggest surprises for ARROW (of all time) on THE FLASH episode.  Both episodes are very important for Barry’s growth.

GRANT:  It was really fun having the dynamic back of when I was on ARROW a year ago. That was when I met Barry, and he was so fun and awkward and the dynamic between him and Oliver was so fun, and we got to recreate that. But it has evolved and it is really very different than anything else on the show.

ANDREW:  There’s a line in there that I will spoil, he goes, “When I fight you [to Oliver], it is literally like you’re standing still.” And what’s hilarious about it is the unbelievable joy with which Grant delivers that line.

GRANT:  David Ramsey [on our show] is funnier than he has ever been.  Which is really funny. It is because what he is seeing is blowing his mind.  So it is cool to see those two worlds meet like that.

ANDREW:  The best version of THE FLASH episode was the almost meta commentary about how serious everyone is on ARROW.  There is a lot of jokes at Oliver’s expense in THE FLASH side of it. But then what was fun was when we went to go do the ARROW side of it, it became the reverse — where Barry, Caitlin and Cisco for all the strum and drum they go through, they all really like each other and they’re having a lot of fun.  Then suddenly they are thrust into a very dark, twisted episode of ARROW, where they all have the face of, “Oh, what you guys really do is serious. You guys are playing at a different level than we are.”

GREG:  It’s no surprise that Boomerang is the villain on the ARROW episode.

No Kill Policy

GRANT:  It is very important to Barry.  He does not want to hurt anybody.

ANDREW:  What they are going to end up doing with the metahumans becomes a very big part of episode 3, and how they are going to move forward. Then that becomes one of the biggest elements of the show — how they are going to deal with them.

TOM:  That’s a great and incredible part of the show.  It’s a tremendous storyline — and very cool looking too.

Time Travel

GEOFF:  It is an important part of THE FLASH mythology, so it has to be in there somewhere.

GREG:  It is an active part of the first year.

To see all these cool characters unveiled and how the mysteries unravel, be sure to tune in for all new episodes of THE FLASH on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.