The Flash is ready to speed back into your living room with the premiere of Season 4. When the series left off, Barry (Grant Gustin) sacrificed himself to the Speed Force as a way of paying penance for his creating The Flashpoint timeline . With The Flash’s return, it's going to be very different than fans last saw it.

The Fun Is Back:

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The Evolution of Caitlin Snow:

The Flash: "I Know Who You Are" Photos 13 IMAGES

The Thinker Is Unlike Any Flash Villain:

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Couples Therapy:

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Balancing the Wedding and the Crossover:

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A Visual History of The Flash 34 IMAGES

At the beginning of Season 4, it's been six months since The Flash disappeared from Central City. Without him, the team has moved on with their lives and their mission to be heroes. Then, as if out of nowhere, Barry returns, setting the stage for a new year of adventures. IGN spoke with The Flash showrunner Todd Helbing about what to expect from the new season, as well as the upcoming four-show crossover One of the biggest knocks on the third season of The Flash was how dark and dire things got. When The Flash first debuted, it was the fun alternative to an often ultra-serious Arrow. With the debut of Season 4, producers are working to take the show back to its roots."We knew we wanted to adjust the tone in Season 4. Season 3 got a little darker than we anticipated. We wanted to get back to a lot of the fun," Helbing says. "So when Barry comes out of the Speed Force, while he's not quite himself at first, what he experienced allows him to finally move past all the baggage that was weighing him down." Hopefully, this means he’ll stop going back in time to try to save his mom.Still, just because Barry is a bit more carefree doesn't mean things automatically go back to how they used to be. "For six months the team has moved on without him. Vibe [Carlos Valdes] stepped up, Kid Flash [Keiynan Lonsdale] stepped up. Iris [Candice Patton] stepped up and became team leader. She's the one at the controls now, telling these guys what to do. Caitlin [Danielle Panabaker] is gone," Helbing reveals. "The whole dynamic has shifted and when Barry reestablishes himself in the team, there's a lot of challenges because of that. As I'm sure you can imagine, someone leaving for six months then coming back is going to take a little while to get used to how that's going to work."When Caitlin's Killer Frost powers came to the forefront , it was easy to see the character would never be the same. However, by the end of Season 3 she was confused about her role in this world. That's going to be deeply explored when The Flash returns, Helbing promises."When she left, she had to go deal with this on her own, figure out exactly who she was and how to deal with this newfound person inside of her. When we find her, she's had time to figure it out," he says. "Her personality has slightly altered a little bit, so she's not the Caitlin we saw in Season 3 or the seasons before that."As the year goes on though, Helbing says, "you start to understand more and more of who she is." Whether that finds her returning to Team Flash to be a hero remains to be seen.Finally, The Flash has a big bad that isn't an evil speedster. That's a road the series has gone down too many times already. Even an evil version of Barry himself has brought chaos to Central City. With the arrival of The Thinker (Neil Sandilands) though, that all changes."It's been a lot of fun for us because the way we approach him is completely different than any of the other villains and not just in regards to him not being a speedster," Helbling teases. "I would certainly say he's the most psychological opponent Barry has faced. He's the smartest man on the planet, so he's thought every variation of the moves whenever he makes a move. He knows how things are going to play out before they play out."That will likely spell trouble for the team, as they adjust to this new type of foe. That said, it will be a walk in the park for the Thinker. "He's a guy that simultaneously built a chess board, all of its pieces and then started moving them around," Helbing says. "He can create any scenario he wants for Barry, then solve ones he wants as well for his own purposes."Barry and Iris are engaged, which is still a great thing for fans of the series. After the events of Season 3 though, they are nowhere near being ready to tie the knot. Thankfully, as Helbing explains, they both recognize that."When he comes out [of the Speed Force], there's a lot of emotional work that Barry and Iris have to do to get to that point where they can say 'I do,'" he teases. "One of the fun things we do is send them to couples therapy. It's a nice, fun way for them to work through their issues and figure out the best way to get back where they were before Barry went into the Speed Force."Given the show's reinvigorated mission statement of pumping up the fun, chances are these scenes are going to be something to behold. While there is plenty legitimate issues for this couple to work out, having them explain their pet peeves about each other to a neutral third party should be pretty funny.That said, it should also go a long way in preparing them for the biggest moment of their lives, which is coming shortly. The importance of Barry and Iris getting married cannot be overstates. This is one of the show's most major moments. Making sure they get to it honestly, unlike Barry's shady first proposal in Season 3, is important.When the key art for this year's crossover between The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow was revealed, fans immediately freaked out. Front and center were Barry and Iris, dressed for their wedding, amid the chaos of what like a battle with Earth-X -- a world in which Green Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl are evil.With two major stories bringing four shows together for a single event, creating something truly memorable is a hard line to walk. "It is tricky where you don't want to just do a one-off where none of the stories are lining up," Helbing says. "Figuring out how to extend and keep the narrative going on all four shows is tricky. There's obviously logistical scheduling challenges. And there's the expectation quotient that we want to exceed."The expectation quotient is possibly the most difficult task to take on. After all, given the wedding that serves as the setting, fan expectations are already insanely high. However, as Helbing explains, "I think the Earth-X of it all is a great way to take it to another level. On top of that, doing four hours as a true saga story is another way we took a step away from last year."Airing the entire crossover over two nights is also bound to help in creating a more cohesive story that feels like one major event, rather than four individual episodes starring the same characters.One thing's for sure: When it comes to weddings, Iris and Barry's is going to be one for the ages. Hopefully everyone survives it.The Flash returns Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. on The CW.