The Flash has once again made a big change to his costume, as the season 7 premiere came with an unexpected upgrade. The Arrowverse has now existed for almost a decade, with The CW having become home to multiple DC TV properties. But just like in the comic books, the superheroes on-screen have various costume upgrades from time to time. Sometimes a hero gets a new suit to reflect the theme of a new season or their character arc. In some cases, it can be about an initial costume not looking exactly like the source material and an upgrade can symbolize that the character is closer to becoming their comic book counterpart.

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There are also instances, including in The Flash, where a certain design just doesn’t function well on-screen. Barry Allen has, since 2014, had an intriguing evolution when it comes to his super-suit. The fifth season was when the costume hit its rock bottom as the removal of the chin-strap was a major distraction. The Flash season 6, however, started out with a whole new look for Barry. Not only was his bodysuit improved, but the costume designers even gave Grant Gustin a new cowl that was a lot closer to the comic book version.

While The Flash season 7 didn’t remake Barry’s suit, the premiere did give a massive upgrade to the cowl. In past seasons, whenever Barry is not wearing the mask, it’s usually hanging behind his head/neck. But as of season 6, whenever he’s seen without it while still wearing the costume, the cowl is nowhere to be seen as Barry doesn’t hold it either. In the season premiere, though, The Flash finally solves that need with Barry demonstrating that his cowl now comes with nano-technology. All Barry has to do is press something that is on his head and the cowl emerges.

The episode never clarifies who made this upgrade since Cisco Ramon was absent in the season premiere. But since this was the first time The Flash ever demonstrated the nano-tech cowl, Barry likely got this upgrade sometime after the season 6 finale. What the upgrade does symbolize though is that as the show has come so long since 2014, so has the technology that exists in the Arrowverse. With all their past storylines of facing aliens with advanced tech or people from the future that has shown what can be created years from now, it makes sense for the DC TV shows to reflect on that.

The longer The Flash goes on, it’s organic for the storytelling to have Barry work with equipment and tech that benefits his superhero gig. That’s why it was a big moment when the show finally introduced the infamous Flash Ring to him that allows him to store his suit inside it. The only thing that is missing now from Barry’s Flash suit is the golden boots, something even Gustin wants to see happen on the show. Besides that, the costume is as close to the comics as it could possibly get at this point. But the addition of the nano-tech cowl is an extremely practical addition for The Flash.

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Andy Behbakht
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Andy is a senior writer at Screen Rant as he has covered the world of entertainment journalism since 2010, including superhero/comic book media. In addition to his work as a reporter, Andy co-hosts The Flash Podcast while running and producing the entire DC TV Podcasts network. He is also the founder/editor-in-chief of The Marvel Report since Fall 2015. Andy has previously written for sites such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It’s Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more.

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