The Flash Season 7 Finale Completes Its Superhero Family | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash Season 7, Episode 18, "Heart of the Matter, Part 2," which aired Tuesday on The CW.

While Barry Allen may be the Fastest Man Alive, he has never ran alone in his superhero career. Barry has consistently worked with others -- from scientists and tech experts to fellow superheroes -- to face threats endangering Central City. And while heroes like Jay Garrick have ran alongside Barry, the Scarlet Speedster's family has grown to include his time-displaced children, Nora and Bart, following in their father's super-powered footsteps. And as The Flash Season 7 comes to a close, the Flash Family has grown even bigger as Iris West-Allen has been granted super-speed and a superhero costume herself.

With the Speed Force destroyed by the reality-altering events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Barry and Iris channeled Barry's powers as the DCTV Multiverse's Paragon of Love to create a new Speed Force. As the Speed Force resurfaced during the Season 7 finale to give the Flash Family a power boost, Iris' residual connection to the Forces led to her gaining super-speed herself. Donning a superhero costume similar to her daughter Nora's as XS, Iris joins her family as they battle an army of Godspeed drones, more than able to keep up with the more veteran superheroes as she fights to protect Central City.

Iris previously gained super-speed in the series, albeit much more briefly, during Season 4. The newly discovered metahuman Matthew Kim possessed the ability to swap people's abilities through their DNA and inadvertently caused Barry and Iris to swap powers. This left Barry powerless while Iris forged her own interim superhero identity that would later inspire her daughter's eventual costume as XS. Among the abilities Iris displayed as a superhero was the ability to generate a purple electricity and to spin her arms fast enough to create powerful air blasts. Matthew eventually reversed the power swap between Barry and Iris, apologizing for the entire misunderstanding.

While the Flash Family appears largely complete in the final battle against Godspeed -- with Barry and Iris joined by Nora, Bart, Jay and the living personification of the Speed Force -- there was one fan-favorite member of the team that was glaringly absent: Iris' younger brother Wally West. While actor Keiynan Lonsdale confirmed he was indeed invited to reprise his role as Wally for the two-part season finale and join the rest of the Flash Family, scheduling conflicts led to him being unable to appear. In The Flash, Wally's absence is explained in an offhand comment about him not being able to answer Barry's call for reinforcements as Team Flash rallied to drive back the Godspeed drones once and for all.

It is unclear if Iris will retain her powers going into Season 8, but given her deep connection to the new Forces, there's no reason why the intrepid investigative reporter can't be a superhero in her own right for the remainder of the series. Iris has already proven herself to be a natural with super-speed, using her abilities in ways that even Barry hadn't thought of yet, and she provides valuable support in confronting the Godspeed drones. And with Barry, Iris, their children and their Uncle Wally all possessing powers, the West-Allen family truly is a superhero family through and through.

Season 7 of The Flash is now complete and is available to stream in normal speed on The CW app.

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