The Flash Fandom Is Wondering Whether Negative Flash Is Coming

When The Flash returns for its sixth season in just a few weeks, Central City’s hero will have a lot on his plate. At the end of Season 5 he and wife Iris West Allen (Candice Patton) watched as their daughter, Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy,) disappeared from existence when a new timeline formed and erased her own. Those events also accelerated the existing timeline, pushing up the coming “crisis” from 2024 to 2019. On top of that, there’s also the new villain Bloodwork to contend with as well as all of the other criminals and dangers in Central City, but The Flash (Grant Gustin) may have even more to deal with in Season 6 — potentially even a turn as the Negative Flash.

New set photos have emerged on Twitter from YVR Shoots (via Batman News) and in the photos Gustin’s Flash appears to be struggling as though in pain while his suit and general appearance also appears to be changing — specifically, his fingertips are turning black. The use of black on the fingers has some wondering if the photo is a look at Barry turning into the Negative Flash. You can check out the image yourself embedded below.

Just based off the photo alone, we don’t really know if that actually is the Negative Flash or what part of the series this set photo is connected to. While The Flash is currently in production in Vancouver, the Arrowverse began production on “Crisis on Infinite Earths” last week so it’s possible that this photo is from some part of that (Hollywood North notes that the photo comes from episode eight which they indicate is called “The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Part 2”.)

In comics, Barry Allen becomes the Negative Flash thanks to Eobard Thawne’s Negative Speed Force, an extra-dimensional field of negative energy that ultimately eats away at the regular Speed Force and can consume any speedster connected to it by touch. In comics, Thawne infected Barry with it in the hope that the Negative Speed force would consume Barry’s loved ones as well as other speedsters to the point that Barry would be consumed by grief and merge with the Speed Force itself.

The Negative Speed Force was used by Nora in order to go back in time without Barry sensing her. Thawne taught her how to use the Negative Speed Force as he had himself created it. During the Season 5 finale, Thawne revealed that the only way that Nora could survive the emergence of the new timeline would be for her to run into the Negative Speed Force, something Nora chose not to do because of how it would impact her. It’s possible that Nora’s initial use of the Negative Speed Force could prove to be some sort of explanation for the Negative Flash in Season 6. We know from the official season premiere synopsis that Barry and Iris will have to deal with the loss of Nora early on. It’s possible that there may be a way to “save” her through her previous use of the Negative Speed Force, prompting Barry’s corruption into the Negative Flash. Anything is possible.

The Flash returns for its sixth season this fall, pitting Barry Allen against new and old foes while on an apparent suicide run toward the destiny he has been hoping to avoid since the series premiered. Way back in 2014, fans learned that — as in the comics — Barry Allen would give his life in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, helping to turn back the Anti-Monitor and save the multiverse. That event would take place in May of 2024…or so we all thought. Due to some changes to the timestream during the last season of The Flash, Barry’s date with destiny has been moved up to December 2019, when all five of The CW‘s interconnected DC Comics shows will cross over for “Crisis On Infinite Earths,” and fans will get to see how Barry tries to outrun his fate.

The Flash season six will debut on October 8, 2019.

Are you excited about the possibility of the Negative Flash this upcoming season on The CW series? Let us know in the comments below.