Most of the major characters on The Flash have suited up as superheroes (or supervillains) at some point or other, but Iris West is a notable exception. She's been a key member of Team Flash without a super-suit or set of superpowers. Now, however, that will change. Iris is set to don a friction-proof suit in an upcoming episode of The Flash.
No, we're not kidding around. Iris West will suit up in an episode to air later this year. She'll be hitting the streets of Central City as the latest speedster, but fans shouldn't get too excited about the prospect of another superpowered member of Team Flash. Her superspeed powers will be quite temporary. Although official details are scarce, set photos indicate that Iris' super-suit will be mostly comprised of black leather with one large white patch on the front along with a domino mask to hide her identity. EW reports that the episode with Iris as a speedster will air at some point in March.
So far, all that has been guaranteed is that Iris will have temporary superspeed abilities for at least one episode in the second half of The Flash Season 4. The big question remaining is what exactly happens that Iris suddenly will be able to run at super speed. After all, she was not affected by the incident with the particle accelerator or given superpowers after the Flashpoint timeline.
The most straightforward way for Iris to gain temporary superspeed abilities is via the use of some kind of serum or technology. Eliza Harmon set a precedent for artificial superspeed back in Season 2 when she used Velocity 9 to become Trajectory. Hunter Zolomon was a user of the Velocity drug as well. While we obviously shouldn't hope for Iris to follow in the villainous footsteps of Zolomon or Trajectory with the use of Velocity, perhaps Caitlin will concoct a version of the serum that can increase speed without doing permanent damage, so long as it's used for a brief span of time.
If Iris does deliberately gain her powers through the means of a serum or technology, we have to wonder why exactly. The Flash is unlikely to keep Barry locked up in Iron Heights for the next month and a half, so Team Flash may not simply be in need of a speedster. Then again, Barry is getting into trouble all on his own in prison and may not feel inclined to leave unless fully exonerated of killing the Thinker. Wally will presumably be off with the Legends, and the other young members of Team Flash already have superpowers. If somebody needs to be transformed into a speedster, Iris is the logical choice. Then again, who knows? Perhaps the Iris who suits up with be an Iris from another Earth.
We'll have to wait and see. New episodes of The Flash air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. The show is already dealing with the plots of Barry in prison, the Thinker on the loose, and a mysterious woman who may or may not be Barry and Iris' kid from the future. We're probably in for a wild ride for the rest of Season 4. If you're still in the market for other shows in primetime, be sure to take a peek at our midseason TV premiere guide.
