WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for The Flash Season 3 finale

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Barry Allen may have saved Central City in The Flash season finale, but a brand new wave of speedster metahumans may have already been born. Because as quickly and calmly as Barry Allen went to Speed Force Heaven, the action leading up to that sacrifice was hectic, or as some of Central City's residents are likely to call it, something close to the apocalypse itself. How else do you describe the otherworldly force blasting the city apart from above and below, covering the streets with a rainbow of lightning? Well, if you're following the comics, you call this the birth of Central City's new speedster army.

We've already shared our expectations for an "evolved" Barry's return in The Flash Season 4, but regardless of what new powers, new sense of purpose, or simply new costume he returns with, a new 'big bad' may be the least of his worries. The CW series has already pulled inspiration from some of the best known Flash comic stories and events, and in the Season 3 finale they managed to set up the possibility of adapting The Flash's most recent "Rebirth" relaunch.

It's a story that turns Barry from a 'superhero' into a veritable 'Speed Force Sensei,' so for obvious reasons, fans will want to know what story they might be telling us next.

The Speed Force Calls For Barry... Violently

By now it's safe to assume that most fans of The Flash have caught up on the season finale's shocking conclusion (since you've read this far), rolling out what appears to be a final chapter for Barry Allen's story. At least, it would be, if we weren't almost completely positive that Barry will return next season - somehow. But the exact events leading up to his departure need a closer examination, since the emotional weight of his many goodbyes may distract fans from the real development. And it all started, in typical Flash fashion, when the worst finally seemed to be behind our heroes.

Suddenly, without warning, the air exploded in bursts of Speed Force lightning scattered across Central City, firing wildly and constantly as the ground shook to the very limits of the Richter scale in response. The S.T.A.R. Labs team narrowed down the source of the catastrophe to a massive rift between the normal world and the Speed Force. Too big to be a breach, Barry recognized it as the fabric of the Speed Force itself convulsing from the instability caused when Jay Garrick escaped from his Speed Force Prison.

The heroes had forgotten, amidst all the merriment (and the funeral for their friend, H.R. Wells) that the Speed Force still needed a speedster to take up residence within it... even if the exact mechanics or requirements are a bit unclear. And with Wally and Jay having served their time, Barry Allen stepped up for his turn.

Don't Ignore The Lightning...

Thankfully the Speed Force informed Barry and his friends that the experience would be a pleasant one for our hero, allowing him to finally make up for his meddling with history, and kicking off his goodbye tour to his Team Flash friends, father Joe, and Iris. While the devoted fans of the show's emotional storylines probably shed a few tears, the ones here for the science or mythology of the Speed Force were probably concerned Barry was taking his sweet time to, you know, stop Central City from being bombarded with multi-colored lightning.

It's bad enough to assume that these blasts could be seen as regular lightning or electrical energy, in which case the power grid would be out of control, and innocent civilians would be dropping across the city. But this is Speed Force lightning, which seems like it may be worth a little more examination than usual. After all, it was just a single bolt of lightning launched by a storm cloud formed from disruption in the Speed Force turned Barry into The Flash. Since that appears to be the exact way of describing the phenomenon unfolding in Central City, you have to admit it's odd nobody asks the most obvious question.

Should we be at all concerned that the men and women being struck by this lightning - whether directly, or indirectly - may undergo similar metahuman changes? It's a question fans simply have to ask... but for the current readers of DC Comics, it's a question that helped launch The Flash's most recent comic book reboot last summer.

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Season 4 To Adapt The Flash: Rebirth?

That's right, Barry Allen encountered a similar, strange, unpredictable storm system in the first issues of his 2016 "Rebirth" as part of DC's company-wide relaunch. In the story from Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico, the storm's first bolt of Speed Force lightning struck Barry Allen's friend and fellow lawman August Heart. The result was the same connection with the Speed Force as Barry, starting him on his path to becoming a true partner and helping an everyday human through the physiological changes that took him years to master.

Barry got to enjoy that rush - the prospect of more speedsters meaning twice as much heartbreak prevented, twice as many crimes stopped - for a single issue. The storm that blessed August with speedster powers returned over the streets of Central City, upping the discharge of its energy significantly. Bolts of blue, green, and yellow lightning danced from the clouds down to unsuspecting residents, apparently blind to age, gender, occupation, or inherent leaning towards the heroic or the criminal.

And so in a matter of seconds, Barry Allen saw his title of "fastest man alive" become a lot more impressive, considering the dozens of civilians suddenly granted access to the Speed Force. Without any knowledge of how to use it, how not to use it, or what they were supposed to do next.

Barry Allen's New Calling

In the coming issues, Barry would need to graduate from a simple superhero to a teacher, as S.T.A.R. Labs developed a program intended to invite the Central City citizens blessed with the powers of their famous guardian angel to master the skill. On minute they're idolizing The Flash, and the next they're being taught to wield those exact powers by the man himself. And yes, there's the challenge of those blessed with superspeed who choose more criminal ends for their powers, unfortunately facing a police force of Flash recruits.

The story expounded on the nature of the Speed Force in new ways: each person would possess a unique Speed Force gift, and they had to use caution since, at full speed, the Speed Force's many fragments longed to rejoin itself. The story even brought with it a new villain by the name of Godspeed, setting out to make the most of the Speed Force's desire an absorb every new speedster's gift for himself - killing them in the process.

The producers of The Flash have already claimed that Season 4 won't feature a speedster big bad, and it's a wise move (even if it mean shelving a villain like Godspeed for now). But posing a superspeed challenge to Barry, Wally, and his team is another story altogether. It's something unexpected, allowing for The Flash to benefit from its ensemble cast's chemistry, and we have no doubt Grant Gustin could make the role of Speed Force teacher absolutely sing.

The Flash Season 3 Untouchable Barry Wally

We could keep rattling off reasons why The Flash Season 4 would do well to take its lead from this "Rebirth" relaunch, but the DC faithful know a convincing case isn't really necessary. By this point, the idea of simply introducing another devious, scheming, duplicitous villain hatching a 'master plan,' superspeed or not, has to feel a bit tired. The Speed Force is a mysterious thing, and if it were to bless countless civilians with the powers of a demigod, who better to uncover the 'why' of it all than the man recently swallowed up by that same cosmic force?

Lest we forget, our speculation over this story being adapted for Season 4 began when the show adapted its inciting incident in the season finale. With that out of the way, the only thing to do is wait for this season-long struggle to be dismissed... or confirmed.

Do you fans of The Flash think this is far too grand or villain-less a premise from which to launch the show's next season? Were you comic book fans as convinced as we were at the first sight of lightning that an adaptation of "Lightning Strikes Twice" was inevitable? Let us know your responses, suspicions, and reactions in the comments.

NEXT: Will The Flash Season 4 Star a NEW Barry Allen?