How Will The DC Universe Respond to a New [SPOILER]?

Major spoilers for tonight’s season three finale of The Flash, ‘Finish Line’, below. Only look if you want to know.

Tonight’s season three finale of The Flash, down to the closing minutes, paved the way for the show to enter an entirely new territory. After Team Flash’s lengthy battle with Savitar appeared to come to a close, the sense of equilibrium was quickly shattered by a Speed Force storm over Central City.

When the team realized that the storm was the Speed Force’s way of demanding a new inhabitant for its “Speed Force Prison” – Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) quickly volunteered to take over. In the moments before Barry sacrificed himself, he made a point to appoint Wally West (Keiyan Lonsdale) as his successor.

Having Wally officially step in as The Flash is certainly no small change. And depending on how much time passes until Barry – inevitably – returns from the Speed Force, this shake-up could have a significant impact on the rest of the DCTV universe.

If Barry were to be stuck inside the Speed Force for an extended period of time – mirroring the 20 years he spent inside it during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline – there’s a chance that Wally could remain The Flash going up to the DCTV universe’s four-show crossover. And even if Barry were to return by that time, Wally would have already established himself significantly enough to earn a seat at the table during that next crossover.

But how exactly would that play out? We break down the possibilities.

Arrow

The dynamic between Barry and Oliver Queen has been central to the DCTV universe since before The Flash officially began. While the pair’s more recent meetings have mainly been confined to the annual crossovers, both heroes have name-dropped each other – or asked each other for convenient amounts of help – on several occasions in their individual shows.

Oliver became a prominent inspiration for Barry’s initial evolution into a superhero, especially in The Flash’s first season. And while the positive Flash/Arrow dynamic that Oliver and Barry have could continue over to Oliver and Wally, it’s not a foregone conclusion at this point. After all, Barry and Oliver have been shown disagreeing regularly about what methods to use in superhero-related situations.

Seeing how regularly superhero mantles – particularly Red Arrow/Speedy and Black Canary – go through different iterations on Arrow, the change between Flashes certainly wouldn’t be a huge shock to Oliver. And since Oliver – and the remainder of Team Arrow, for that matter – have had little firsthand experience with Wally, the potential dynamics between them would certainly be interesting to see.

Legends of Tomorrow

As with Barry and Oliver, a handful of members of the current Legends of Tomorrow slate have had established relationships with the Scarlet Speedster. Mick Rory, Martin Stein, and Jax Jackson have all had their origins tied into The Flash, while Ray Palmer’s crossover with Team Flash was a noteworthy part of The Flash‘s season one. In addition, Rip Hunter appears to have somewhat of an established relationship with Barry – at least with his future self.

This leaves the remainder of the current Legends slate – Sara Lance, Amaya Jiwe, and Nate Heywood – having at best a working relationship with Barry Allen, thanks to last year’s Invasion! crossover. And assuming the team adds at least one new member, that adds another character who is possibly unfamiliar with Barry Allen.

This suggests that, if the Legends were to work alongside Wally as The Flash, a mixed bag of reactions would occur. At the root of it, none of the Legends have even met Wally – although Stein was in the same room as him during Joe’s Christmas party in season two. But, again, the Legends accept changes to reality on a regular basis, making way for an opportunity for them to work with Wally – and maybe even help get Barry back.

Supergirl

While technically on her own Earth, Kara Danvers/Supergirl still remains a significant part of the DCTV universe – largely thanks to Barry Allen. After he accidentally traveled to Kara’s earth, the pair developed a fast friendship. In last year’s Invasion! crossover, Barry called on Kara to help aid Earth 1’s established heroes. And Kara left with her own inter-dimensional portal creator, with the promise that Team Flash and Team Supergirl could call on each other whenever they needed.

Fans already got a creative indication of this in March’s musical crossover ‘Duet’, but could that happen again during Wally’s time as The Flash? It very easily could, and a pretty interesting dynamic could result. Kara and Wally have technically shared the screen during the group scenes of ‘Duet’, meaning they surely have a friendly dynamic with each other. (The same can be said for Kara’s mentor, J’onn J’onnz/Martian Manhunter, who fought alongside Wally and Vibe during the musical crossover.)

Given Kara’s optimistic demeanor, she certainly would embrace Wally’s new role, especially with his ties to Barry and Iris. It also would create new possibilities out in the field, as Wally hasn’t really had a chance to fight alongside the Girl of Steel. It’s certainly a dynamic that fans of both characters are certainly hoping to see following The Flash’s season three finale.

More The Flash

You can read the synopsis of The Flash‘s season three finale below:

With nothing left to lose, Barry (Grant Gustin) takes on Savitar (also Grant Gustin) in an epic conclusion to season three.

David McWhirter directed the episode written by Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing. It will air on May 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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