The Flash season 3 villain has been revealed, Danny West (from DC Comics). With the ending season 2 of The Flash, DC Comics superhero television show on the CW, we saw two very important things setting the stage for season3, the mention of Earth3, and Flashpoint (also Black Flash, but we’ll get to that later). Earth 3 deserves a mention, as it is the Earth where the good guys are bad, the Justice League is now the Crime Syndicate, with The Flash as Johnny Quick. In The Flash season3 finale, we learn the true identity of The Man in the Iron Mask is actually a new speedster, the real Jay Garrick, who is from Earth3. No doubt we will see more of Earth 3 in season 3 of The Flash. The last few minutes of The Flash season2 finale, we see Barry Allen, using the Speed Force, to go back in time and save his mother from being killed by Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne, who then wore the face of Harrison Wells and set in motion the plot for the first two seasons. In the DC comics realm, when Barry Allen goes back in time to save his mother, Barry inadvertantly reconfigures the events and characters of the entire world, to where Batman is now Thomas Wayne (Bruce & Martha were killed in that alley by Joe Chill, instead of Thomas & Martha Wayne), Wonder Woman and The Amazons have invaded Europe and Aquaman and The Atlanteans have waged war on humanity and begin an invasion of Europe (It was Reverse Flash’s (Professor Zoom in the comics) plan all along. (warning, spoiler alert if you haven’t read the comics. ‘Flashpoint’ is one of the top 10 DC comics series of all time, so read it, if you haven’t already). We, of course, wont see all that in The Flash season 3, but we will see Barry, The Flash, navigating an alternate timeline of events and characters, struggling to reset the timeline, even if it means allowing his mother and father to be killed. We saw some of that conflict in season 1, where Barry resolves not to reset the past, but I guess The Flash writers just borrowed from Arrow character’s flip-flop motivations.
As we see, in the set photo above, by Canadagraphs, The Flash villain costume looks just like Daniel West. Who is Danny West? During an accident with The SpeedForce monorail, Iris West’s brother, and/or cousin, gains speedster powers. Daniel West adds fragments of the Speed Force Monorail to his costume, acting as armor and giving him additional powers. Daniel West, as Iris’ brother version, is responsible for paralyzing their father. This alienates Iris, which Daniel laments, as he attempts to go back in time to kill their father, in hopes (weird) to win the heart of his sister(no, not Jaime-Cersi weird, just sibling caring). Later, in DC comics fashion, Daniel West is rebooted, via the New 52, as just another story arc for Wally West.
In true CW storyline style, The Flash season 3 will change the comics enough to keep the viewers guessing, like rebooting the Central City timeline with Eddie still alive, Iris putting Barry back in the friend zone and combining Black Flash and Black Racer (see below) in varied ways. Consider the above for The Flash season3 plot spoilers, as well as adding Earth3 “heroes,” actually villains (does that include the true Jay Garrick from Earth 3? probably) into the mix, and don’t forget Jesse Quick, Harrison Wells’ daughter, now equipped with Speed Force powers, and you have an exciting nest season of The Flash. If you are not caught up on season 1 & 2 of The Flash, Netflix made a recent deal with The CW for exclusive viewing of CW television shows, where geek meets television.
Season 3 of The Flash will also introduce villain/character with a similar costumed superhero suit, The Black Flash. The Black Flash appears when a speedster is about to die and reclaims their Speed Force. We saw a glimpse of Black Flash, when Hunter Zoloman Zoom was attacked by the Time Wraiths (those ghosts, like Harry Potter Dementors, that reclaim individuals who abuse the time travel using the Speed Force. Yes, Barry Allen did that, but it was just really convenient, plot-wise, for the Time Wraiths to only attack Zoom). As the Time Wraiths attack and grab Zoom, his costume and face change. Many viewers thought it was just a disintegration of human flesh as a consequence from being touched by the Time Wraiths, but really it is the appearance of Black Flash reclaiming the Speed Force as Hunter Zoloman dies. Yes, we will see more of Black Flash in season 3 of The Flash.
The Black Flash is an amalgam of Black Racer and The Flash. After Jack Kirby left Marvel, due to a superhero character rights dispute with Stan Lee, he went to DC Comics and went on to create many prime characters in the DC Universe. One of these character was Black Racer, a paraplegic Vietnam vet, named Willie Walker (odd choice of names don’t you think?), who became merged with Death itself, equipped with cosmic skis and ski poles; yes Black Racer is very similar to the Silver Surfer, whom Jack Kirby also created. Modern depictions of Black Racer have him wearing cooler cosmic boots & staves, instead of skis and ski poles. Also to note that Darkseid was the first to merge Black Racer with a corporal form. The Black Racer has had many hosts, including Mr Miracle. Much later, The Anti-Monitor merged Black Racer with Barry Allen / The Flash as a successful attempt to kill Darkseid. Black Flash remained and now reclaims the Speed Force whenever a Speedster dies, like a superhero version of the Law of Conservation. We will most likely see Black Racer posses Wally West in The Flash season 3.
I’m still expecting to see Barry Allen’s twin brother Cobalt Blue, Malcome Thawne, separated at birth and raised by the vindictive, future enemy of The Flash, Eobard Thawne, but we may have to wait for a season 3 finale plot twist for that. I keep tweeting The Flash writers and producers with this story arc, so it may still happen. The Flash writers are uber secretive, but they have inadvertently revealed that they have mapped out story arcs for future seasons. Looking forward to more Team Flash.
Everyone’s favorite twins, Dipper & Mable, will finally meet their match. Not Bill, but the end of summer. Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls, made a statement yesterday that the end of season 2 will be the end of the series. Alex Hirsch stated that it was a creative decision, not a network or Disney decision. Hirsch wanted to tell a complete story, with characters that he loved, and not have Gravity Falls drag on for many seasons without any story to tell.
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