WARNING: This article features MAJOR spoilers from Earth-Prime #6: Hero's Twilight.
The Flash season 9 is seemingly set to bring back one of the Arrowverse drama's biggest villains, who hasn't been seen since season 6. As The Flash season 8 is approaching its end with the upcoming finale, titled "Negative, Part Two," The Flash season 9 does not yet have a release date. While not much is known about season 9 thus far, it has been confirmed that Jesse L. Martin will be exiting the show as a series regular, after having portrayed Joe West since The Flash season 1. Candice Patton (Iris West) and Danielle Panabaker (Killer Frost) are also reportedly in negotiations for new contracts ahead of season 9, but their future remains unclear.
However, while plot details about The Flash season 9 are being kept under wraps, the Arrowverse story has continued to expand elsewhere. Since April 2022, DC Comics has been running an Arrowverse crossover project, titled Earth-Prime. It focuses on The Flash, Superman & Lois, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and DC's Stargirl. Issue #5 was penned by The Flash staff writers Jess Carson and Emily Palizzi, and the comic is considered canon in the wider Arrowverse.
Earth-Prime #6: Hero's Twilight, was finally released today (via @Wars_Clips), as the multi-part event finished the massive storyline involving the battle against Magog. However, Earth-Prime: Hero's Twilight also had a secondary story, which reveals that Ramsey Rosso, a.k.a. Bloodwork, is "free" and presumably on the run. The panel ended with the line "To Be Continued in Season 9 of The Flash," which can be seen below.
Click here to view the image on Twitter
Bloodwork served as a major villain in The Flash season 6, before leading up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Played by Heroes star Sendhil Ramamurthy, Ramsey was ultimately defeated and sent to ARGUS, which set up the story for Earth-Prime #5 and #6. In Earth-Prime #5, Ramsey escaped from his ARGUS captivity. Continuing over to Earth-Prime #6, which The Flash writers Thomas Pound and Jeff Hersh wrote, Cisco Ramon ends up being the one to discover that Bloodwork is now MIA, setting it up for The Flash season 9.
Given that the Earth-Prime event was always confirmed to be canon to the other series, and approved by the respective showrunners, it's a big surprise to get such a major tease for The Flash season 9 already. So far, Warner Bros. TV and The CW have yet to announce Ramamurthy's proper return, but it's likely only a matter of time until this canon reference is addressed. Throughout The Flash season 8, Bloodwork's future return has not been teased. However, when Ramsey was last seen on the show, he had a chance to escape, but chose to remain a prisoner, saying he is playing "the long game." Since The Flash does its graphic novel format every season, it would make sense if Bloodwork is at least one of the Big Bads in The Flash season 9, in order to finish Ramsey's arc in the Arrowverse properly.
Source: Earth-Prime #6: Hero's Twilight (via @Wars_Clips)