If you are one of those select few who watch "The Flash" because you can't stop gushing over Grant Gustin, you're probably wondering what's with all the hype and why people kept repeating the word "Flashpoint."
The term was emphasized in the trailer by a caged Reverse Flash with the whole trailer acting as fanfare, crawling up to the point where he raises his hands and says, "I was thinking, Flashpoint."
What Is Flashpoint?
Flashpoint is "the brave new world 'Barry Allen' whipped up for us." An entirely different timeline of direct consequence from the last season finale wherein Flash decided to save his mother from dying. This altered the timeline drastically and will likely have series-long ramifications. Interesting enough, Barry Allen's mother never died and his father never went to prison. He didn't grow up with the Wests and Cisco Ramon is a billionare. It also seems Barry and Reverse Flash won't be the only speedsters as the trailer also introduced Kid Flash and the Black Flash.
Why Is It Iconic?
Spoiler alert. "Flashpoint" is also a comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics on the year 2011. A gut-wrenching, adrenaline-pumping, action-packed release whose conclusions led to New 52 - the complete revamp and relaunch of DC Comics' entire line of ongoing monthly super hero comic books. Flashpoint is basically what caused the recent reboot of the whole DC Universe.
Barry Allen wakes up in a different timeline where his mother is still alive and his father died from a heart attack years ago. He has no powers, Justice League doesn't exist, and no one knows who Superman is. Over at Gotham, Batman is the merciless, gun-wielding Thomas Wayne and the Joker is his wife Martha Wayne - who apparently couldn't handle the death of their son Bruce in that alley years ago, that's why she became the Joker. Aquaman and Wonder Woman were at war and Cyborg is desperately trying to recruit help to stop their armies from waging war against each other.
Barry Allen had reason to believe the Reverse Flash was behind all of these, so he attempted to get his powers back then teamed up with Batman and Cyborg to find Superman. After a little bit of hacking, they find the top secret military base where Superman is being kept and find his scrawny, scared state as if as though he had never seen humans or the sun before. They broke out and were confronted by military soldiers. Scared of what's going on and experiencing sun for the first time, Superman took flight and left everyone behind.
Barry figured, if they stop the Reverse Flash, they could stop the world from destroying itself so they head over to the warsite where there were sightings of the speedster. Eventually, the Reverse Flash reveals himself and stressed that he wasn't the cause of the altered timeline, but Barry himself when he went back in time to stop the Reverse Flash from killing his mother. A dying Batman is able to kill the Reverse Flash and asks Barry to save his son. Flash looks around and sees everyone is dying, so he ran so fast that he went back in time again - to let his mother die.
How Are The Two Different?
At DC's Flashpoint - the stakes are at the global scale. The fate of the world lies within Barry Allen's actions and the consequences of those actions made. CW's Flashpoint is about Barry Allen and his personal relationships. "Most of the changes are to Barry's life and him being at the nexus of these changes. He's put all of the people that are in his life - Joe, Iris, Cisco, and Caitlin - and spun them into different ways", explained Kreisberg.
What Else To Expect From The New Season?
New villains and new characters, including Harry Potter star Tom Felton as CSI Julian Dorn. There's also confirmed crossover episodes with Arrow, Supegirl, and Legends of Tomorrow to air on November.
The Flash Season 3 will air on October 4, 2016 at 8 pm on the CW Network.
