The Flash’s Season 6 Big Bad Has Not Been Referenced on the Show Before

The Flash has gone up against speedsters from other Earths, maniacal geniuses, and metahuman-hunting serial killers. Thanks to a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, we have the first major details about who Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and company will be fighting next. The report confirms previous rumors that the big bad would be male, as well as the fact that he “has not been named dropped on the show, but is from the comics.” If that wasn’t enough, it sounds like the villain will have an emotional connection to Barry that’s radically different from previous baddies.

“The emotional journey that the big bad is on mirrors the emotional journey that Barry Allen must face going into season 6,” showrunner Eric Wallace revealed. “The big bad this season, if we can do our jobs right, will be the most personal villain the Flash has ever faced emotionally since Eobard Thawne. Because this year’s big bad is facing kind of the same circumstances Barry Allen is going through, it’s going to bring them closer together in a darker way than villains that perhaps we’ve seen in the last few seasons.”

This notion that it’s a new, comic-accurate character certainly is intriguing, as it rules out almost all of the Big Bad theories that fans already had. Both Red Death and Evan McCulloch/Mirror Master were name-dropped in some capacity last season, but it sounds like they’re out of the running this time around. It also sounds like, especially since they were casting for the part earlier this month, that it won’t be a new version of a character who already appeared on the show.

With that in mind, there’s no telling what kind of Big Bad the series could introduce, and whether or not it has ties to The Flash‘s mythos or to this winter’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. If it’s the former, there are certainly an array of Flash villains – from Cobalt Blue to Intertia to even Turbine – that have an emotional connection to Barry in the comics. If it’s the latter, then there’s an entire multiverse of possibilities.

Who do you hope is the Big Bad for Season 6 of The Flash? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Flash‘s sixth season will begin Tuesday, October 8th, at 8/7c on The CW.