The Flash (season 7)

The seventh season of American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, is scheduled to premiere on The CW on February 23, 2021. The season follows Barry trying to stop Eva McCulloch, and finding a way to locate his missing wife Iris West-Allen. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The season is produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Eric Wallace serving as showrunner.

The season was ordered in January 2020. Production began that October. Grant Gustin stars as Barry, with principal cast members Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Nicolet, Efrat Dor, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin also returning from previous seasons, while Brandon McKnight and Kayla Compton were promoted to series regular from their recurring status in season six.

Main

 * Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / The Flash
 * Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
 * Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow / Frost
 * Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon
 * Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton
 * Efrat Dor as Eva McCulloch
 * Tom Cavanagh as Nash Wells
 * Jesse L. Martin as Joe West
 * Brandon McKnight as Chester P. Runk
 * Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia

Notable guests

 * Natalie Dreyfuss as Sue Dearbon
 * TBA as Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man
 * TBA as Godspeed


 * John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick
 * Ashley Rickards as Rosalind Dillon / Top
 * David Dastmalchian as Abra Kadabra
 * Sendhil Ramamurthy as Ramsey Rosso / Bloodwork

Development
In January 2020, The CW renewed the series for a seventh season. At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, series star Grant Gustin implied it could be the final season as none of the actors were contracted for beyond seven seasons.

Writing
The sixth season ended prematurely, with 19 episodes out of the scheduled 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Showrunner Eric Wallace said the remaining three episodes, which had been written, will become the first three episodes of season seven. He conceded there may be a few small adjustments made based on how the pandemic would affect shooting, but said Eva McCulloch's story "is on a very specific trajectory that we want to honor and finish." Wallace continued that he thought having these three episodes start season seven was "making it stronger because it's forcing us to look at these two separate things – which is the end of Eva's story and the beginning of the next villain's story and how he relates to Barry and Iris —" and making a strong connection between them. While cast member Danielle Panabaker was initially written out of some episodes in the season to accommodate her maternity leave since she gave birth in April 2020, Wallace said there had been discussions about whether to write her back into them since the pandemic resulted in production delays, though he noted the rewriting process was "tricky". Like the sixth season, the seventh season would be divided into multiple "Graphic Novel" arcs, though Wallace said they were "not going to be broken up in the way I think folks ."

Regarding the character of Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man, given actor Hartley Sawyer being fired from the show, Wallace said they would be giving the character "a rest for while. But we will leave the door open" for a version of the character to appear again. The character will still appear at the start of the season, dealing with the remaining plot lines from the end of season six. Given Dibny's powers allow him to alter his appearance, that created "a couple of ways" for him to "still appear in at least one episode this season to wrap that storyline up, that gets us what we need and still allows fans to say goodbye to the character, at least for the indefinite future." Wallace also revealed they had a planned storyline for Dibny with another character that would have tied into the season's main villain. As a result, another character was utilized for that storyline and Wallace said "the storyline became so much stronger" because it became more of an emotional journey for them, going "somewhere that we never imagined they would until many seasons down the line". Despite setting up the relationship between Dibny and Sue Dearbon, Dearbon will still appear in the season, assisting Team Flash "in an unexpected way". Wallace later said that Joe West's storyline in the season would be "inspired by societal changes happening in today's world".

Casting
Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Nicolet, Efrat Dor, Tom Cavanagh and Jesse L. Martin will return as Barry Allen / The Flash, Iris West-Allen, Caitlin Snow / Frost, Cisco Ramon, Cecile Horton, Eva McCulloch, Harrison Nash Wells and Joe West. Despite Nash being the only remaining Harrison Wells with a tangible body as of season six, Cavanagh said, "if there needs to be another Wells, there can be another Wells". Brandon McKnight and Kayla Compton, who recurred as Chester P. Runk and Allegra Garcia in the sixth season, were promoted to the main cast for the seventh season. Hartley Sawyer was expected to return as Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man in the season, but in June 2020, he was fired from the series after social media posts with racist and misogynistic references (from before he joined the series) resurfaced.

Filming
The episode that would have been season six's 20th was 90% filmed before being announced as the season seven premiere. The season was scheduled to begin filming on October 1, 2020. However, by September 29, the start of filming was temporarily postponed, because of delays in receiving COVID-19 test results for the cast and crew. Filming later began on October 9, and is expected to conclude on May 19, 2021.

Marketing
In early August 2020, The CW released several posters of the Arrowverse superheroes wearing face masks, including the Flash, with all posters having the caption "Real Heroes Wear Masks". This marketing tactic was used to "raise public awareness on the efficacy of facial coverings preventing the spread of COVID-19".

Broadcast
The seventh season is scheduled to premiere on February 23, 2021. Despite premiering much later than previous seasons, it is not expected to have a shorter episode count. In September 2020, Wallace said the number of episodes for the season had not yet been decided, and that would depend on when the season would begin filming safely.