'The Flash' season 6: 'Into the Void' finally plays the iconic Flash Gordon theme and sets up Barry as 'the savior of the universe'
This article contains spoilers for 'The Flash' season 6 episode 1: 'Into the Void'
The Scarlet Speedster is back and in style, thanks to Cisco Ramon's (Carlos Valdes) impeccable taste in music which sees him play the iconic Queen's 'Flash' theme during a key scene. Cisco plays the theme over the comms when Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is running into the black hole to save Chester P. Runk's consciousness after the latter's experiment sees him build a black hole using parts rummaged from a dumpster yard. The track was played in the 80s movie Flash Gordon composed by Queen. When he cues up the tune, he tells a bemused Iris (Candice Patton) that he's been waiting for the right moment to play it.
Barry makes use of Nora's (Jessica Parker Kennedy) gauntlet that contains the filament capable of helping Barry get out safely from the black hole and keep Runk's consciousness intact. Cisco threads it to Barry's suit and with the new upgrade, the Scarlet Speedster runs into the black hole and accomplishes the mission.
The 1980 space opera film is based on the King Features comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon is introduced as a New York Jets football star. The movie was co-written by Michael Allin (known for 'Enter the Dragon') and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (who had previously scripted De Laurentiis's remake of 'King Kong'). This was one of the earliest high-budget feature films to use a score primarily composed and performed by a rock band.
You can listen to the cult theme here:
The song also serves as an introduction to Barry's new suit based on the 52 comics. The season opener also managed to introduce the villainous Bloodwork (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and set up the 'Crisis' when the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) appears in the final minutes of the episodes and tells Barry that he will die in the earth-shattering battle.
'The Flash' season 6 airs Tuesdays at 8 pm on The CW.