SPOILER ALERT: If you are not caught up on ‘The Flash’, be warned, this story discusses the Season Three finale. You may wish to turn back if you want to avoid SPOILERS.
As you can see from the picture above, Barry Allen is getting a striking new look for ‘The Flash’ Season Four. After six months away, stuck in the Speed Force in an effort to defeat Savitar, Barry will return at the start of the new season changed, both visibly and mentally.
Star Grant Gustin offered an insight into Barry’s new state:
“Initially, Barry is pretty scrambled when he comes out of the Speed Force. He’s not himself, he’s talking nonsense. When he was in the Speed Force, he experienced his whole life laid out in front of him from start to finish. So in some sense, he comes out very wise, kind of knowing everything, but he has no understanding of what he’s seen, so he comes out very jumbled and talking what he thinks makes complete sense, but just nonsense to the rest of the crew.”
Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg added:
“It’s not in the titles, but every one of these shows — whether it’s Supergirl, Arrow, or Flash — it really is like Arrow Begins, Flash Begins, and Supergirl Begins. Now it’s season 4 and he’s really become The Flash in the comic books, the one who really is in full mastery of his skills and has the emotional maturity that he has in the comics.”
Presumably, these whiskers are indicative of this newfound wisdom and maturity. Also noticeably different, his hair is longer and floppier, not the well-gelled Pompadour he typically sports. Presumably, this new make-under will be short-lived, since it would be a pretty hefty coincidence that both Barry and The Flash went missing for six months and both returned at the same time with the same beard and mustache.
But one other new look will be more enduring. As is par for the course with The CW’s superhero shows, with a new season comes a new costume. The Flash Instagram page posted a full-body shot of the new suit:
For comparison, here is The Flash costume from last season:
It’s not a complete overhaul, but the new suit is very clearly brighter and more comic book-y than the last. Rather than drab crimson the new suit looks to be bright cherry red. On the old suit, the gold accents were dull and tarnished-looking. On the new version, the gold is bright, shiny and more yellow. And there’s a lot more of it. Like the comic book costume, the new TV suit features yellow lightning bolts around the tops of the gloves and around the waist. Rather than a separate belt, the waistband is the bottom of the jacket. This motif is echoed around the tops of the boots, whereas in the comics, he wears full yellow boots, but that would be a bit much in live action. The new uniform maintains the motorcycle style of previous versions.
When ‘Arrow’ first started, the creators seemed almost apologetic about the show being based on a superhero comic book, so it intentionally looked dark and grounded. When Barry Allen arrived, the shift toward being more in line with the colorful world of comics really ramped up. Even so, the designs of the super uniforms were dulled down from the crisp primary colors on paper. As time goes by, however, it seems that the creators are becoming more comfortable with the larger than life source material. This new look for The Flash reflects that.
What do you think about Barry and The Flash’s new looks? How do they compare to the previous appearances?
Sources: Screen Rant, Comic Book Movie
