The Flash is no stranger to cliffhangers, and fans have had to wait through a number of painful hiatuses for answers. The cliffhanger from the Season 3 finale might be the most difficult, as the episode ended with Barry Allen giving up his life in Central City and trapping himself in the Speed Force. A speedster had to be contained in the Speed Force; with Savitar dead and Barry unwilling to let Jay Garrick or Wally West take his place, Barry had no choice but to leave Team Flash and Central City behind. We could only wonder what would happen next... until now. The Season 4 trailer was released at San Diego Comic-Con, and it revealed just how life has moved on without the Flash:
The good news is that Team Flash has carried on in fighting the good fight, and they even have a new leader: Iris West. After losing the love of her life to the Speed Force, Iris has decided that she wants to continue working to protect Central City, and sitting around to mope over Barry wasn't going to do anybody any good. In fact, she seems to be handling Barry's absence best of any of them, which really speaks to Iris' character. She lost the man she was going to marry, and yet she's carrying on. Who better to lead the team?
Under Iris' leadership, it seems that Team Flash has been doing a pretty solid job of protecting Central City. Vibe looks to be helping Kid Flash fight crime out on the streets, so Wally isn't the only one with superpowers working battle bad guys. Wally apparently doesn't take on the mantle of the Flash right off the bat, if at all. Unfortunately, there are some things that only the Flash can do, no matter how determined his friends are to fill his shoes. One villain clearly has a bone to pick with the Flash, and Central City is going to pay the price if Team Flash doesn't deliver the Flash to him (and his crazy sword).
Team Flash will only have a few viable options if they want to stop this villain and his impossible sword. They could try to use a hologram of the Flash, as there's a precedent for such technological tricks successfully misleading folks in the past. Alternately, they could graduate Kid Flash from his red and yellow costume to red costume of the Flash to try and pass him off as Barry. Sure, the two don't look interchangeable, but who's to say that this particular villain has ever gotten a look at the Flash other than a red blur? The third option -- and the one that Team Flash seems to be exploring in the trailer -- is finding a way to retrieve Barry from the Speed Force. Cisco looks to have tweaked the Speed Force cannon that was designed to force speedsters into the Speed Force, presumably so that it can pull speedsters out.
We can only wait and speculate at this point. The Flash won't return to The CW for Season 4 until the fall. Check out our summer TV premiere guide for what you can watch in the meantime, and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for San Diego Comic-Con coverage.
