The Flash Producer Explains Flashpoint Comic Book and TV Differences

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The Flash returns for season 3 tonight, bringing a fan-favorite DC Comics storyline to the small screen: Flashpoint. In Both the comic book and TV versions of the story revolve around Barry Allen/The Flash going back in time to prevent his mother's death at the hands of The Reverse-Flash. That temporal change creates a massive "butterfly effect" that changes the timeline in ways Barry could never have predicted.

However, the types of ramifications and timeline changes wrought by Barry's actions on the TV series are going to be very different from what fans read in the comics. Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg sat down for a season 3 interview with EW, and discussed, in part, what the show could and could not reproduce from the comics, and what new dimensions of the "Flashpoint" story can be explored.

In the comics, "Flashpoint" wasn't just a big event for Barry Allen; the changes that occurred in the timeline reverberated throughout the entire DC Universe, creating new versions of DC heroes like Batman and other Justice League members. The biggest world change was a failed romance between and Aquaman and Wonder Woman that resulted in a war between Amazons and Atlanteans that ultimately consumes the world.

The Flash TV series can't quite match the scope of the comic book storyilne, as warring superpowered armies on sea and land is beyond what a TV budget can cover. Kreisberg and Co. know as much, as the EP told EW, "Obviously, the comic books dealt with this giant war between the Atlanteans and the Amazonians, and Thomas Wayne being Batman. All of that stuff is not at our disposal, which is fine with us because we really wanted to do something personal to Barry having changed his friend's lives and Barry coping with [the fact that] he may have traded his happiness for his friends."

While many fans have hoped to get Batman in the DC TV Universe, the powers that be at DC/Warner Bros. have maintained that they are not lending The Dark Knight out right now. But that doesn't mean that the "Flarrowverse" can't have its own fun with its "Flashpoint" ripple effect. Arrow star Stephen Amell has already teased how Oliver Queen's world may be affected by Barry's actions (a spin on the Flashpoint Batman, perhaps?). Kreisberg acknowledges that some Easter egg nods to the comics may also be fun for fans:

"There's a couple of nods to the comics in there. There's actually some dialogue from the comic in the episode. But as always the movies are the movies and TV is TV, we're not trying to infringe on their purview. The episode is a much more personal one. The stakes in the comic book in Flashpoint were global and the stakes in this episode are very much just about Barry, his existence and the people that he loves."

We also know that Flashpoint will only be the beginning part of the seasonal arc, but Kreisberg emphasizes that the effects of the story arc are going to be much more permanent. "It will be resolved," Kreisberg said. "But there will be consequences that last throughout the season, and quite frankly, last throughout the series."

For the full interview, head over to EW.

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The Flash premieres on October 4; Arrow on October 5; Supergirl October 10; and Legends of Tomorrow on October 13. Each show airs at 8/7c on The CW.