"My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive..."
Earlier today at the New York Upfronts presentations, The CW released its fall schedule along with a new 5-minute extended trailer for the pilot episode of their new series, The Flash. Last night, The CW released a one-minute teaser for The Flash, but this extended trailer is the one DC Comics fans have been waiting to see.
The trailer begins with a young Barry Allen being beaten up once again by a gang of neighborhood kids, lamenting that he "wasn't fast enough" to avoid the fight. "It's better to have a good heart than fast legs," reassures Barry's mother Nora (Michelle Harrison).
"When I was eleven, my mom was murdered," says a present-day Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) in a voiceover as we see fleeting images from that tragic day. "I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom." As fans of Geoff Johns' run on The Flash comic book series know, Barry's mother was murdered by none other than his arch-enemy The Reverse-Flash and sure enough, we see his familiar yellow image blurring across the screen.
We soon see the events shown in the Arrow episode "Three Ghosts," which featured the lightning strike that sent Barry crashing into a rack of chemicals. "I've spent my whole life searching for the impossible, never imagining I would become the impossible," he remarks. And then we find out what happened next, as Barry is rushed to the hospital and his heart is revived. He wakes up in S.T.A.R. Labs, where he meets scientists Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), then realizes his accident has produced some unusual changes. "Lightning...gave me abs?" Barry says in amazement.
Cisco explains that Barry was in a coma for nine months, as Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) wheels into the room to welcome him back. Meanwhile, Iris is stunned to see Barry up and around. "I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying, your heart kept stopping." At that moment, a tray spilled by a coffee shop waitress that begins to fall in slow motion echoes a scene from Barry Allen's first appearance in Showcase #4, and Barry begins to wonder what's happening.
Caitlin informs Barry that he had a distal radius fracture (a broken wrist) that healed in just three hours, then she, Harrison and Cisco take Barry out to a Ferris Air testing facility to gauge how fast he can he run. As Barry whoops in delight with his newfound super speed, the measuring gun comes in at over 700 MPH, the speed of sound.
Harrison tells Barry that S.T.A.R. Labs has been searching for other metahumans like himself, leading into the pilot's villain -- Clyde Mardon, the brother of Mark Mardon, better known to Flash fans as the Weather Wizard. Clyde begins wreaking havoc on Central City, controlling the weather to advance his crimes. Barry sees it as his responsibility to stop Clyde, but Harrison warns him, "You're not a hero. You're just a young man who was struck by lightning."
Barry realizes he needs help to catch Clyde and anyone else out there like him, so he asks Caitlin and Cisco to join his new crusade. Cisco offers up something that might help, a scarlet uniform that is "made of a reinforced tripolymer. It's heat and abrasive resistant."
And then, Barry is reunited with one Oliver Queen, The Arrow (Stephen Amell), on a downtown rooftop. "What if I'm not a hero?" asks Barry. "What if I'm just some guy who was struck by lightning?"
"I don't think that bolt of lightning struck you, Barry," replies Oliver. "I think it chose you, because you can inspire people, watching over your city like a guardian angel, making a difference, saving people...in a flash." As he leaps off the rooftop, Oliver leaves Barry with one final suggestion. "Take your own advice...Wear a mask."
If you'd like to see the full trailer, you can check it out below thanks to The CW's official YouTube account...
The Flash will air on The CW on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. EST.