The Flash: Who is the big bad of season 9?

The Flash season 9’s synopsis teases new threats. The season will feature a number of guest stars, including Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman, but who will be the main antagonist?

On Dec. 5, Deadline confirmed the premiere date of The Flash’s ninth and final season on The CW and also unveiled a press release that featured a synopsis for the upcoming season.

Via set photos and several headlines, Flash fans have been aware of some returning Arrowverse stars set to reprise their roles, as well as newcomers set to be introduced on the show. From the synopsis, you get an idea of the key players involved, but who is this season’s Big Bad?

President of Entertainment at The CW network, Brad Schwartz, has promised ‘guest stars’ galore, “plenty of twists” and “surprises”. Check out the synopsis below:

"“…Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) are reconnecting and growing closer than ever before. But when a deadly group of Rogues descend on Central City led by a powerful new threat, The Flash and his team… must once again defy impossible odds to save the day. But as The Rogues are defeated, a deadly new adversary rises to challenge Barry Allen’s heroic legacy. And in their greatest battle yet, Barry and Team Flash will be pushed to their limits, in order to save Central City one last time.”"

The synopsis makes references to The Rogues but also alludes to a “new adversary” who seeks to challenge our series’ protagonist’s “heroic legacy”. Now, who could that be? It’s neither The Rogues nor any other surviving and variant incarnations of them. And no, not even the second Captain Boomerang a.k.a. Owen Mercer (Richard Harmon), who will appear in the season. But what about The Red Death?

Is The Red Death the main villain of The Flash season 9?

The Red Death’s arrival was foreshadowed as early as Season 5 when, during a recording in the future regarding Cicada’s activities, Captain Singh mentioned that the meta-murderer’s killing spree surpassed even that of the Red Death. The evil speedster’s identity was unknown at that time, but following the “Armageddon” storyline last season, Batwoman referenced a battle with a villainous female speedster dubbed the “Lady in Red”, implying whoever the speed demon was, it is not Bruce Wayne behind the mask in this universe.

Set photos from the final season of The Flash reveal that the Scarlet Speedster and Batwoman will face off against the Red Death. However, Javicia Leslie was revealed to be wearing the Red Death costume, confirming that there will be two versions of Ryan Wilder in season 9, as the Scarlet Knight and the evil speedstress are one and the same. However, the question remains if the Red Death is the big bad of the season.

The Lady in Red may just be a precursor to an even bigger threat and The Rogues could maybe be the power vacuum left behind after the Man in Yellow’s demise (see what I did just there?). Taking that into account, could the main Big Bad be Cobalt Blue, but a version that is a departure from the source material and more connected to the blue crystal from the future we saw in the season 8 finale?

Of course, The CW’s version of Cobalt Blue may have to be a loose adaptation of the one from DC Comics, and the character’s origins may be rewritten in such a way that in live-action he has a plausible connection to Barry Allen (instead of the evil twin storyline seen in the comics).

With that in mind, could all those fan theories about Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne returning to play a new version of the character finally come to fruition? Will Eddie Thawne be the show’s version of Malcolm Thawne, and become the real big bad of The Flash season 9?

If you love The Flash, listen to The CW Spiral Podcast for news and updates about the show, season 9, and The CW’s future. Subscribe to their YouTube Channel here.

Who do you think is the Big Bad of The Flash Season 9? Who are you looking forward to appearing this season?  And what are your thoughts on Javicia Leslie reprising her role as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman and becoming Red Death? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!