Warning: Spoilers for The Flash season 9, episode 13
The Flash quietly laid the groundwork for the season 9 finale’s huge speedster twist in a season 8 episode. The final episode in The CW series concluded with a surprise development that saw Barry pick three new characters to share his Speed Force abilities. Thanks to his decision, Earth-Prime will have three additional characters with the tools to keep it safe from super-powered threats.
Prior to the finale, present-day Earth-Prime had three speedster heroes it could count on in the forms of Barry Allen, Wally West, and Jay Garrick. But after the events of the finale, it should have six ready to step up when the need arises. The Flash season 9, episode 13, titled “A New World, Part Four,” saw Barry throw lightning bolts of speed into the sky as a way of choosing new heroes to wield his Speed Force powers. By Barry’s choice, DC Comics characters Avery Ho, Max Mercury, and Jess Chambers were granted speedster abilities in the finale, setting them up to become new Arrowverse superheroes, albeit offscreen.
The Flash Already Set Up Max Mercury Becoming A Speedster
Without revealing how, The Flash previously hinted at one of its three new heroes becoming a part of the Flash Family. In The Flash season 8, episode 15, “Into the Still Force,” Barry saw faces from his past, present, and future. Curiously, he referred to one of the people he saw there as “Max.” Though the name was taken as a reference to DC Comics speedster Max Mercury, it was clear that he was talking about someone whom he had yet to met. And since he was mentioned alongside Arrowverse heroes like Violet Beane’s Jesse Quick and Wally West, it was implied that he’d eventually join Team Flash, presumably as a superhero.
The Flash’s Max Mercury tease created new theories about what the show was building up to for its next chapters. The setup suggested that Max would be a main character one day, but as it turns out, the line was in actuality the first stepping stone toward Barry’s big decision in The Flash series finale. Rather than grow into a Team Flash member within The Flash’s story, Max was destined to become one of the new characters Barry would choose to help him build a “better world” after The Flash’s ending.
The Flash’s Max Mercury Setup Means A Team-Up Will Likely Happen
The Flash season 9 finale’s ending creates avenues for Jess, Avery, and Max to enjoy their own superhero journeys, potentially in other cities. This means their stories could be completely independent of Barry’s, however, as season 8’s Max Mercury tease suggests, at least one of them will become close to Team Flash in the years ahead. Exactly what adventures they’ll share with Team Flash may never be known, but Barry mentioning Max in the same breath as Wally and the others is a good sign he’ll be a dependable ally in his future battles.