'The Flash': Wally West Will Only Appear in Three Episodes of Season 5

The Flash's fifth season is set to bring about quite a few changes, and it looks like those will affect one fan-favorite speedster.

In a recent interview with Newsarama, showrunner Todd Helbing revealed that Wally West/Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale) will be returning to the world of The Flash, albeit for a relatively short stint.

"You will see Wally in the first episode." Helbing revealed. "He is in three episodes this season. We don't have as much time with Kid Flash as I think everyone would like to see, but the story we have for him is really cool."

For Arrowverse fans - especially those who have been keeping up with Wally's storyline - this is certainly a bit of a surprise in one way or another. After a brief hiatus from last season of The Flash, Lonsdale took Wally to fellow Arrowverse show Legends of Tomorrow. His role in the back half of Legends' third season was largely praised by fans, only for the actor to announce that he would be departing after that show after the season four premiere.

"My heart told me it was the right time to continue my journey on an unknown path, and I'm so damn grateful to both shows for honouring & respecting that with me." Lonsdale said in a social media post shortly after the announcement. "I love Kid Flash, I love the family I've made, & I'm absolutely in love with the invaluable lessons I've learnt along the way. Thank you for believing in me & rooting for Wally to thrive, you honestly helped me see that I did indeed deserve to play him, & that $#!+ right there made me a stronger actor."

With all of that in mind, it will surely comfort fans to see that Wally is getting a chance to wrap up his arc on both shows. But at this point, it's anyone's guess as to what Wally's new arc on The Flash could look like.

We know that he was on hand for the official arrival of Nora Allen/XS (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who would technically be his speedster niece from the future. Maybe Wally is embarking a bit of wisdom on how to be a time-traveling speedster to Nora? Or maybe his storyline has some sort of comic-accurate tie to the new big bad, David Hersch/Cicada (Chris Klein)? Either way, Arrowverse fans will surely be excited to find out.

Are you happy to see that Wally West will be returning to The Flash's fifth season? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The fifth season of The Flash will debut on Tuesday, October 9th, at 8/7c on The CW.