The Flash has gone through quite a lot of evolutions in its half-decade on the air, and it looks like that will especially be the case going into next season. During a recent panel at Salt Lake City’s FanX convention, series star Carlos Valdes spoke about the dichotomy that will be happening in Season 6, where the show will feel a little more grown-up, while still being its authentic self.
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“This season, our show is getting kind of real, a little bit.” Valdes explained. “Like it’s kind of growing up a little bit, as the fandom sort of grows up. And I think with that maturity comes some more difficult backstories and difficult characters, if you sort of catch my drift. So that’s definitely been the most recent challenge is ‘How do I honor that realness and that maturity and depth while also making sure that it doesn’t sort of sag the energy. So that it’s still exciting and funny and full of heart and everything that I think makes the show so popular.”
On top of that maturity, the show is expected to deal with the added gut-punch of “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, the forthcoming crossover that has been teased since The Flash‘s pilot episode. Once Team Flash learns that the coming “Crisis” will be happening five years early, each character is expected to process it differently.
“It’s like stepping on a landmine,” showrunner Eric Wallace said in a recent interview. “All of a sudden the future is today, and that turns everything upside-down. You’ll see each member of Team Flash react in their own unique, and sometimes tragic, way.”
“When I first read the pilot, and then I saw the pilot, I always assumed that [“Crisis on Infinite Earths”] would be the series finale,” former showrunner Todd Helbing previously explained to ComicBook.com. “So yeah, I like it a lot, moving it up. Look, there are so many things we can do after that. I think it’s a nice way to get to that sooner than later, and it has changed my view of the show. I think it actually sort of is going to inject a new sense of energy into the show, which in a season-six show you always want. I think the timing is perfect.”
The Flash‘s sixth season will begin Tuesday, October 8th, at 8/7c on The CW.