Keiynan Lonsdale's Wally West, a.k.a. Kid Flash, hasn't had a permanent role on The Flash since he wrapped his run during Season 4. While he was briefly a member of the Legends of Tomorrow, and has popped in to help out Team Flash and see his family here and there, fans still haven't seen the character in a bit more than a year, when Wally showed up on The Flash Season 5 premiere. Well, Kid Flash is finally coming back, and it sounds like the team is really going to need his help!
Wally's time on The Flash was punctuated by Wally trying to figure out where he fit among his new-found family and friends, even more so once he gained his powers. He was always trying to step into the role of hero, but sometimes had trouble with the responsibility and what it meant for his life, especially since he wasn't the team's head hero. This time around, there's going to be an intriguing threat which will lead him to suit up. Showrunner Eric Wallace had this to say about what Wally and Team Flash will be up against when we see him again:
After working on his inner life in Tibet, Wally West, aka Kid Flash, is back to help Team Flash against a familiar threat... but one with a very new face!
Oooooh. OK, what could this mean? I'm going to assume that, since Wally hasn't been a part of the majorly surprising "Crisis on Infinite Earths" mega-crossover event, that the various heroes involved will be able to wrap up all the Monitor / Anti-Monitor shenanigans before we see Wally and Kid Flash again. So, that leaves out him having to help Team Flash with any loose ends from that.
According to TV Insider, we'll see Wally again in Episode 14, and from the sound of Eric Wallace's "familiar threat...very new face" line, I'm guessing we'll be treated to a new(ish) speedster villain. Of course, The Flash has seen a lot of bad guys who are quick enough on their feet to rival Barry and Wally's powers. The big question is: Will this actually be a new villain, or literally an old villain with a new face?
Remember The Flash's first supervillain, Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, and how it always looks like we've seen the last of him because he seems to have been defeated, but he never really is? He's also, to my knowledge, the only of The Flash's Big Bads to be played by several different actors. So, what if this villain Wally steps in to help fight is Reverse-Flash in new flesh? Sorry, that sounds kinda icky, but you know what I mean.
At any rate, Eric Wallace has also promised that all that time Wally spent trying to find himself after his girlfriend, Earth-2 hero Jesse Quick, broke up with him, will have been worth it. Apparently, his time searching for inner peace alone and adventuring around with the Legends has paid off in some big ways:
As always, it’s a real treat having our Flash family member Keiynan Lonsdale back to play the youthful speedster, but what’s different this time [is that] Wally has grown, along with his speedster abilities, too. This won’t be your same old Kid Flash making a reappearance, [it’s] a fresher, more exciting direction for the character, as Wally — just like the rest of Team Flash — deals with a post-Crisis world.
It sounds a lot like we're going to get a more mature, self-assured version of Wally this time around, along with Kid Flash possibly having some new, or at least refined, super speed powers. And, both of those new aspects of the character are certainly worth looking forward to as Season 6 continues.
The Flash returns on Tuesday, Febuary 4, but for more on what you can catch on the small screen in 2020, be sure to check out our winter / spring premiere guide and Netflix release schedule for the new year!
