‘Arrow’ Spoilers: How The Flash will factor into Starling City

As we reported on Tuesday, The CW is developing a potential series based on the DC Comics’ character The Flash and his alter ego Dr. Barry Allen. The character will first be introduced on the network’s other superhero series, “Arrow.”

The project is being run by “Arrow” creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and director David Nutter. DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns is also heavily involved in the potential new series. Johns and Kreisberg held a mini-press conference after the announcement at Tuesday’s TCA panel to give reporters the scoop on what viewers can expect.

Dr. Barry Allen will come to Starling City in episode 8. The character is a forensics scientist working for the Central City police department. Kreisberg said he will be “an ordinary” man when he first appears. Barry will be in episode 9 as well and then episode 20 will serve as a backdoor pilot for the new series, like “The Vampire Diaries” did this past spring to launch “The Originals.”

While the producers of “Arrow” have been adamant about their universe not having any superpowers, that is about to change since The Flash will at some point come into his powers. “Our characters will react to the extraordinary changes in their world in hopefully a realistic way,” Kreisberg said. “These powers won’t be treated as commonplace for the show. They will be extraordinary events and our world and the characters will react to them accordingly.”

As for how The Flash’s speed will be shown onscreen, Johns said he will not be “blurring around.” Instead, the show creators want to find a new way to give people a glimpse of what The Flash can do.

One thing viewers can count on: Barry and Oliver (Stephen Amell) are not going to get along very well. “Barry’s a cop,” Johns said, “He follows the law, he follows the rules. The last thing he would ever think about is being a vigilante.”

Casting has just started so there’s no official word on who will be playing the new superhero.

Are you excited for The Flash? Do you have casting suggestions? Will this open the door for more characters with superpowers on “Arrow?” Hit the comments and let us know.

“Arrow” returns Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 8/7c on The CW.