Season 3 of The Flash will deal with the Flashpoint paradox

The second season of The Flash wasn’t kind to Berry Barry. The war with Zoom took its toll, resulting in casualties on both sides as the two speedsters battled it out to see who really was the fastest man alive. End of the day and season, and Barry emerged triumphant while Zoom’s fate was less kind. But that wasn’t the end yet for the second season, as Barry decided to set things right once and for all. Spoilers!

Sufficiently warned? Right at the end of the second season, Barry travels back in time to the night he mother was murdered by the Reverse-Flash. Even though he avoided saving her in the past when given a chance, this time he didn’t back down. The Reverse-Flash is taken care of, Barry’s mom doesn’t have a knife inconveniently stuck in her chest and Barry’s father is thus never sent to prison. Sunshine and gumdrop smiles for everyone, right?

Not quite. In the comic books, Barry did just that, and managed to almost destroy the world in the process. Known as The Flashpoint Paradox, the Flash found himself in an alternate timeline where everything had gone to hell. Because if Nora Allen was never murdered, then Barry would never become the Flash. Also, Bruce Wayne was dead while his father became the Batman, Superman was a government secret that was kept locked far away from anything solar-powered and the world was at war as the nations of Atlantis and Themyscira spread genocide across the globe.

Yeah, not a good timeline to return to. The Flash would eventually reset this world, helping to give birth to the New 52 universe. So what does this mean for the TV series then? Because according to the Flash himself, Flashpoint is happening:

FLASHPOINT. This is not drill. https://t.co/nzq2NJh9pl

— Grant Gustin (@grantgust) June 20, 2016

Look, a straight adaptation is never going to happen. You’re going to see Wonder Woman slit the throat of an avatar of the power of Shazam. But the possibility to massively shake up the worlds of not only The Flash, but Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and new acquisition Supergirl is certainly there. And with a planned crossover between all four shows on the way, something big is going to happen.

It could also lead up to an even bigger event, that the Flash has been teasing since day one: The Crisis on Infinite Earths. A storyline where entire universes were destroyed as the galactic extinction event known as the Anti-Monitor burnt his way through the cosmos. Hell, there was even a sly visual nod to this in the season 2 finale when Barry’s time remnant sacrificed itself to save the day:

New timelines, new adventures? Hopefully the Flashpoint focus in season 3 will at least erase the last two seasons of Arrow. That’d be a good start.

Last Updated: June 21, 2016