Barry Allen's costume in The Flash season 8 has been upgraded and is quite perfect, finally bringing the ultimate comic-accurate suite on-screen. At DC FanDome 2021, the first look at Barry Allen's newest Flash was unveiled, and while it mostly resembles the look he’s had for the past few seasons, it has one hard-to-miss difference – gold boots.
Though Barry’s original Arrowverse suit received considerable praise when it was first shown off, the series has continuously made changes to it, both big and small. It’s gone through a few notable evolutions, with one of the biggest happening in season 5, which was when he acquired the suit that came out of the Flash Ring. A few adjustments have been made since then, but nothing too significant. However, the new poster for The Flash season 8 reveals that the Arrowverse isn’t done evolving it. When the Arrowverse series returns in November, Grant Gustin’s Scarlet Speedster will be sporting a brand-new iteration of the Flash costume.
The Flash season 8 poster confirms the addition of the gold boots, an element of Barry’s comic book costume that has been never been included in any of the Arrowverse’s previous Flash designs. It’s something that fans of the character have been requesting for years, with even Gustin voicing supporting for the change. But with each season, the show has avoided putting the gold boots on the suit. Some wondered if there were concerns about how it would look on-screen, but the poster makes it clear that the boots were never a problem. The gold color really pops and helps break up some of the red on the Flash's suit. It actually improves the overall look of the costume.
This was the final touch needed to deliver the perfect Flash costume. For years, it’s been building up to that but wasn’t quite there yet. It took a big step in season 2 by adding the white emblem on his chest, and then brightened the color palette in season 4 to make the entire suit look even more comic-accurate. Season 6 gave him the proper lightning-bolt ears and ditched the leather for fabric, which were two more important steps toward the classic suit. By then, it had reached a point where the only thing missing was the gold boots, which means that in season 8, it’ll be complete at last.
Looking at the new suit and the dark red, leather costume he worn in The Flash season 1 demonstrates just how much Barry and his costume have changed over the course of the show’s long run. It also reflects Barry’s transformation into the hero from the comics, which is apparently going to be a big theme in season 8. According to The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace, the plan for season 8 is for Barry to finish his evolution into his DC Comic counterpart, which indicates that the Flash's gold boots are actually a symbolic change as well [via Deadline]. When taking that into consideration, it makes sense that The Flash has put them off for this long. When they debut in season 8, they'll be well worth the wait.
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