The CW‘s Arrowverse has become a TV phenomenon, and The Flash is at the heart of that. The humorous and often lighthearted superhero show has set the tone for many of the network’s later additions. Though last season the Barry Allen-centered series took a darker tone, the team is back with the lightness and laughter that fans know and love. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t facing some serious big bads! In fact, when we sat down to talk to The Flash himself, Grant Gustin, on set in the show’s Vancouver home, the star was excited about the huge role that The Thinker would be playing in the newest season.

After four seasons, Barry has gotten a sense for which foes are going to cause him trouble. Gustin told us from the start that Barry knows Clifford DeVoe isn’t someone to underestimate. “Barry starts to get an inkling early on that this is going to be somebody serious and we’re going to want to nip it in the bud right away,” Gustin revealed. “When we heard about this guy–thinking back to who we heard about him from–Cadabra mentioned DeVoe to Barry and then Savitar. Evil Barry actually mentioned him to Barry and Iris. So Barry’s taking it pretty seriously right away.”

Though he might be right about their newest adversary, not everyone is as sure as Barry, which seems like it’s going to lead to a little tension for Team Flash before they all come together for the greater good. “He starts to become a little obsessed with finding this guy and with getting everyone to be on the same page as him,” Gustin explained. “He’s more all knowing than any big bad we’ve had before. Every time we think we’re ahead of him, we realize he’s still three steps ahead.”

This season has seen the addition of what the cast of the show sweetly call “the bus metas,” a group of humans who were changed into metas by The Thinker. These newcomers include Team Flash’s newest member, Ralph Dibney, a.k.a. Elongated Man, and they all seem to be a part of The Thinker’s nefarious scheme. “We have the bus metas. DeVoe created all of them, and they all have to do with his plan. None of this was an accident. We don’t realize that at first, but we start to see everything’s connected and we don’t know why he needs all these people and why he did this to them,” Gustin teased.

How will Elongated Man change the direction of the team? Gustin sees Dibney’s arrival as a way to take Barry back to his roots. “That’s kind of the selling point with Ralph, why he wants to get him to work with Team Flash. He’s like, ‘I want to teach you how to be a good detective again.’ There’s been a lot more of that for Barry. We don’t see him too much as a CSI. He’s been trying to solve more problems on his own, a lot more detective work, and Ralph and Barry have been doing that together a lot, which has been cool,” Gustin smiled.

Are you looking forward to seeing Barry get his CSI on? Got any great fan theories about The Thinker? Excited for the big crossover? Let us know in the comments!

Images: The CW

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