‘The Flash’ Photos Bring “The Nuclear Man,” Plus New Time-Travel Teases

‘The Flash’ will bring Firestorm to the forefront with next week’s “The Nuclear Man,” but things may not stay so linear for Barry Allen, as the DC drama delves into its most sci-fi stretch yet. Preview “The Nuclear Man”’s arrival with the full set of photos from this Tuesday’s hour, and find out what ‘Groundhog Day’-meets-‘Back to the Future’ shenanigans lie in store for ‘The Flash!’

Where this past week’s “Crazy For You” kept Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) out of the picture to introduce the mysterious Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), next week’s “The Nuclear Man” will see the two quite literally joining forces, as the “Firestorm” mystery comes to light, and puts everyone at risk. Elsewhere, Barry keeps looking for love with Linda Park, and Joe and Cisco work on the mystery of Barry’s mother.

So reads the full synopsis of next Tuesday’s “The Nuclear Man”:

ROBBIE AMELL AND VICTOR GARBER GUEST STAR AS FIRESTORM

After Ronnie (guest star Robbie Amell) attacks a physicist (guest star Bill Dow), Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team realize they need to go after Caitlin’s (Danielle Panabaker) fiancé who is now a dangerous meta-human. They deduce the best way to track Ronnie is to find Dr. Martin Stein (guest star Victor Garber) who was working on a project called F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.

Barry struggles to balance his duties as The Flash and his relationship with Linda Park (guest star Malese Jow), and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) enlists Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) help to reinvestigate the murder of Nora Allen (guest star Michelle Harrison). General Eiling (Clancy Brown) returns to Central City.

Still, if you think that seems complicated, wait until ‘Spartacus’ star Liam McIntyre arrives as the second incarnation of DC’s Weather Wizard in episode 15, the complications of which introduce time-travel and the famed Speed Force into the CW adaptation. Describing the hour as “a mashup between Back to the Future and Terminator—the good version of time travel and the bad version of time travel,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg and Grant Gustin spoke to EW about the upcoming hour:

It’s a complete accident the first time [he time travels]. It’s really confusing because now we’re playing with timelines and we’re having to shoot things a couple different ways. It’s like a Groundhog Day-type element. It’s really funny and really exciting.

After realizing what’s happened and bringing the team up to speed, certain applications dawn on Barry that might well cause a major paradox, unraveling the very fabric of space-time and destroying the entire universe! Well, maybe:

He realizes, ‘Holy shit, this an opportunity to change things with my family’s past.’ He doesn’t know yet to maybe not do that, but that’s where Barry’s at when he realizes what he’s just learned that he can do, that he can maybe save his mom.

Nevertheless, “The Nuclear Man” still stands in the way of Barry’s excellent adventure, the fiery full photos of which we’ve included above. Will ‘The Flash’ ever be the same after such serious sci-fi madness?