The first two seasons of The Flash spent good chunks of episodes building the mystery of the supervillain. We got our first looks at Reverse Flash and Zoom relatively early on, and subsequent episodes would drop hints and clues about who the man was beneath the mask. We're currently in Season 3, and we've been waiting a while to find out the real identity of Savitar. According to star Grant Gustin, the Savitar reveal will be very different from the Reverse Flash and Zoom reveals for one big reason. He shared this tease:
It's not the same as past reveals. With Zoom and Reverse-Flash, the audience was starting to realize things before we all started to piece it together. But I don't know how you would know this year. And when you do find out, it's like, 'Oh. My. God!' There are really no secrets or hints leading up to to it.
Well, that's bad news for anybody who has been carefully constructing a flow chart to try and figure out who Savitar is in The Flash Season 3. Apparently, all the hints to Reverse Flash and Zoom's identities in Seasons 1 and 2 simply aren't there for Savitar. Grant Gustin's tease to TVLine about how we're probably going to be shocked by the supervillain's identity may mean that he - or she? - is somebody who few of us would have ever predicted.
Now that The Flash regularly visits different Earths and timelines, there are plenty of places where Savitar could have really come from. Sure, we have Julian's story, but we can bet that there's more to it. Who knows? Maybe the man beneath the Savitar suit will be somebody we've never seen before. Stranger things have happened, and time travel could explain why Savitar can have such a grudge against Barry despite not showing up in the present until Season 3. We can really only wait and see at this point.
Personally, my pet theory about Savitar's identity was that he was Barry from the future. Savitar has said "future Flash" more than once in Season 3, and given that The Flash tends to go more for spectacle over subtlety with its supervillains, my money was on a plot twist that would turn our mostly lovable Scarlet Speedster into the grim Future Flash of DC comic canon. My backup theory was that Wally is actually Savitar, although that was mostly based on my belief that wearing a mask with the top cut off and going by "Kid Flash" would be enough to turn any adult a little bit evil. Now, it sounds like I may have been wrong on both counts.
We may find out more about Savitar in the next episode. Barry is headed back into the Speed Force to rescue Wally, who was trapped inside by an escaping Savitar at the end of last week's episode. Tune in to The Flash on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW to see what's next for Barry and Savitar in Central City, and don't forget to take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule for a look at all your other small screen viewing options. For a look at our top ideas for Savitar's identity, check out our breakdown of the most likely candidates.
