WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Flash season 5 finale that may influence your enjoyment in discovering the plotlines. Read at your own risk.
Things will be quite different for Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin) and his team in The Flash season 6. Following the season finale of The Flash season 5, which aired on Tuesday, May 14, on The CW, the group will now have to contend with a new timeline that has accelerated the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" from 2024 to 2019. This puts the crisis in a similar timeline as Arrow, thus setting up the highly-anticipated crossover.
Thawne (played by Matt Letscher) explained to Barry that this new timeline was the consequence of destroying the dagger of Cicada (played by Sarah Carter). Given a choice, Barry decided to save Nora (played by Jessica Parker-Kennedy) instead of containing Thawne, and once he was let go, he bid a chilling goodbye to Team Flash and said he'd see them in the next "Crisis."
Showrunner Todd Helbing revealed in an interview with TV Line that they have been dropping clues about The Flash season 6 throughout season 5. Fans should expect a major shakeup both in the storyline and behind the scenes.
One big change for The Flash season 6 will be the departure of Helbing as showrunner. The writer-producer is moving on with new projects at Warner Bros. Taking over for Helbing is Eric Wallace, who joined the series as executive producer in season 4.
On the casting front, The Flash season 6 will likely not have Carlos Valdes (as Cisco) back. Despite disappointing fans, the actor has decided to leave the series for good to look for other opportunities, but he has yet to publicly addressed his exit.
The Flash season 5 finale, however, showed Cisco relinquishing his powers as the superhero Vibe so that he can live a normal life. He realized he didn't want to have extraordinary abilities, so he took the cure and told Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) that he wants out. He also left STAR Labs to start anew with his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, The CW has not yet confirmed the premiere date of The Flash season 6. Previous seasons, however usually launched around fall along with the network's other superhero shows like Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. According to Bustle, the new season might be on the air by Oct. 8.
