WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Marathon," The Flash's midseason premiere, which aired Tuesday on The CW.
After the universe-shattering events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths," The Flash's sixth season finally returned with an all-new episode. Naturally, must of this midseason premiere dealt with the direct fallout of the events that transpired in the Arrowverse crossover: Barry is still reeling from the loss of Oliver Queen; Team Flash is learning to live in a new world that is different from the one they know, and Barry's family has to learn to live without counting down the days to the Flash's death.
What's more, in the episode, Cisco brings us up to speed on all the big changes that took place on Earth-Prime, like the presence of Supergirl, Superman and Black Lightning, as well as the revised timeline of this new reality. And better yet, it turns out these changes have just opened the door to more comic book-accurate supervillains.
The Flash doesn't waste any time in addressing the big changes that have come as a result of the reboot of all reality during "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Cisco's breakdown of everything they know about Earth-Prime confirms the heroes believe the multiverse to be gone. And, on top of a new timeline of events, some of Team Flash's enemies have also made a comeback.
In Arrow's series finale, fans discovered the reboot of the universe had led to the return of many deceased characters, such as Tommy Merlyn and Moira Queen. But now, it appears that some villains have also reappeared. In fact, in "Marathon," Cisco reveals "A bunch of our villains are back... with fresh paint jobs!"
Over the years, Team Flash has gone up against plenty of villains from the comics. However, the modern and grounded setting of the Arrowverse resulted in the introduction of more realistic takes on the characters. Sure, they had their abilities from the source material, but their costumes and looks were perhaps different than the comics. Such was the case with supervillains such as the Turtle, Golden Glider, Rainbow Raider, Kilg%re and the Weather Wizard, whose outfits were much less faithful to the source material.
However, now, all of that can be undone. Cisco's mention of "new paint jobs" is a bit vague, but it could easily mean the villains he is referring to are back with new costumes -- looks that could be much more in line with what we see in the comics. Of course, this could also mean that some of these villains are back, but wholly different, as seen in "Marathon," when a new version of Doctor Light turns up.
Cisco was able to keep track of all their old villains, and he's set up a binder with all of their info. After six seasons, Team Flash has dealt with plenty of bad guys, and now they might have to do it all over again. This time, however, the fights might be just a bit more colorful.
Airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/CT on The CW, The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Nicolet and Hartley Sawyer.