'The Flash' Season 6: Barry Allen struggles with a troubling post-Crisis world that involves an icy Iris
The Crisis was a looming threat in the Arrowverse. There was one thing certain — Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) were going to die. The two heroes had already bid their tearful goodbyes to their loved ones. And so when the wave of anti-matter obliterated universes in front of their eyes, they were sure of their fate.
Except, what a twist.
In the five episodes of 'Crisis On Infinite Earths', the Anti-Monitor did seem to succeed initially, as the multiverse was annihilated and the heroes or Paragons as they were called were trapped in the Vanishing Point. Yet the Spectre in the form of Oliver Queen saved the day after an epic showdown with the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett). He died a hero's death, while the other heroes, including the Scarlet Speedster, survived. The fifth installment of the Crisis ended on a positive note, as it saw that families had been reunited and the world was saved. You would think that all was well.
But of course, the show must go on.
The latest teaser of the post-Crisis world has hit the web, and it doesn't seem to bode well for Barry. In the first few seconds, he's treated as a hero and celebrates on a wine date with Iris. And in the next few seconds, we get to see a terrorist organization taking over the city. Barry's best friend, Cisco Ramon, says the Arrowverse destruction has altered the laws of physics. To add fuel to the fire, Iris seems standoffish with him and says she was "preparing for a world" without him and that she refuses to be a "damsel in distress anymore". So we are probably going to see a dark side of Iris. Barry looks rather hurt and perplexed by her behavior, and later Caitlyn tells him that he needs to figure out "who he wants to be in the post-Crisis world."
Clearly, defeating Anti-Monitor and rebirthing the multiverse was not the end of his problems.
Just before the Crisis, Barry had dealt with the deadly Bloodwork (Sendhil Ramamurthy), a man who is pretty much a blood-bender. Bloodwork had caused an emotional crisis in Barry, just before the actual Crisis, almost making him choose immortality over his prophesied fate. For a while, Barry embraced the dark side and became the Negative Flash, till Cisco and Iris brought him back from the edge. Considering that Bloodwork was only locked up before the Crisis, he could still pose a threat.
'The Flash' returns on February 4 at 9pm on The CW.