- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for season six of “The Flash.”
- The most recent season of the hit CW series ended in May, but there’s more to look forward to when the show returns for season seven in 2021.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The sixth season of The CW’s “The Flash” is over, but there’s plenty more to look forward to when the show returns.
Season six was cut short due to production shutdowns connected to the coronavirus pandemic, so the season ended with 19 episodes instead of the usual 22 or so.
Regardless, the finale hinted at what’s next for the Scarlet Speedster and the rest of Team Flash.
Insider rounded up all the details we know so far about the seventh season.
The next season will show how the two halves of season 6 are connected
Season six's storyline was divided into two parts, with the first half of the season tackling Barry Allen's (Grant Gustin) struggle to come to terms with his mortality after learning that he was going to die during the "Crisis" crossover event.
The speedster, who ended up surviving, also had to deal with a new villain named Bloodwork (Sendhil Ramamurthy).
The second half of season six centered on the fallout of the crisis and introduced a new threat, Eva McCulloch (Efrat Dor), who trapped Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), Kamilla Hwang (Victoria Park), and Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) in a Mirrorverse.
Those episodes also focused on Iris' skills as a reporter at The Central City Citizen, which Patton said was "a long time coming" since it was previously a backburner element of the character.
The actress also said that they cast felt "reinvigorated" by having two separate but related stories for season six.
"We'll see at the top of season 7 how it all comes together," showrunner Eric Wallace said of the two halves of season six while discussing the show at DC FanDome, a virtual convention.
The season 7 teaser trailer released at DC FanDome was ridden with spoilers, according to showrunner Eric Wallace
The teaser released in August was pulled together using scenes already shown on season six, plus new footage from the last episode that they were able to partially film before production was shut down.
Wallace said that they were on the last day of filming for what would have been the 20th episode of season six, which will now be pushed to the first episode of season seven.
"Even though it's only footage from one episode, pay attention to the way it's presented," Wallace said. "It's actually huge spoilers all over the place."
Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man will appear less when the show returns
In June 2020, it was revealed that Hartley Sawyer, who portrays the Team Flash member, was fired after racist and misogynistic tweets resurfaced.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about Sawyer's character, Wallace said that they're "giving the Elongated Man a bit of a rest," but that they "will leave the door open."
He added: "I'm not saying by any means that it's the end of the character, in fact, quite the opposite. We just don't know when he will return, or in what form he will return."
Much of Ralph's storyline on season six centered on his blossoming relationship with Sue Dearbon (Natalie Dreyfuss), who made her first appearance on episode 12 and marries Ralph in the comic books.
Wallace said that Ralph will play a part in repairing the damage done during the season six finale, when Sue was framed for the murder of Joseph Carver (Eric Nenninger), Eva's estranged husband.
And because Ralph has the ability to manipulate his body to take on the appearance of someone else, Wallace said the skill will come in handy.
"There are a couple of ways that we can have Elongated Man still appear in at least one episode this season to wrap that storyline up, that gets us what we need and still allows fans to say goodbye to the character, at least for the indefinite future," he explained, adding that "technically it would be a recasting."
Wallace also revealed that there were bigger plans for Ralph on season seven, which were scrapped due to Sawyer's exit from the series.
Regardless, the showrunner said that fans can expect to see more of Sue, even after Elongated Man is out of the picture.
Godspeed will return as a season 7 villain
Season six of "The Flash" kicked off with Team Flash discovering another clone of the real Godspeed, who first appeared on season five.
Later in the season, The Flash teamed up with metahuman Hartley Rathaway/Pied Piper (Andy Mientus) to fight Godspeed.
Unfortunately, this was just another clone of the speedster, which Barry realized after questioning him in Iron Heights. Based on the discussion, the real Godspeed is on the hunt for "infinite velocity."
At DC FanDome, Wallace teased what viewers can expect and explained his reason for bringing back the antagonist.
"I wanted to make sure that new fans, especially new young fans who are reading the comic books right now, are welcomed to the show," he said. "So it's not just Silver Age villains and Bronze Age villains. There might be a young girl or young boy who is reading those comics right now and going, 'Where's my generation's villain?'"
Barry and Iris will 'find their way back to each other'
The heartfelt moments from the second half of season six involved Barry and the Mirrorverse version of Iris, rather than his real wife.
While answering a fan question at DC FanDome about the possibility of more touching moments between Barry and the real Iris, Patton said: "They will find their way back to each other eventually. A lot of the romance and the chemistry between Grant and I has always been something even deeper than that. It's the way we look at each other and the way the characters are written."
Season 7 will premiere sometime in 2021
Other shows and films, like The CW's "Riverdale," will resume filming soon (or have already started production). It's unclear when exactly new episodes will premiere, but as of now, The CW expects shows like "The Flash" to return in 2021.
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