10 Most Controversial Changes Made In Arrowverse Shows

The Flash went for a hat-trick during its third season when the show introduced its third Big Bad speedster into the mix in Savitar. However, in order to distance him from the evil speedsters that showed up before him, the writers rewrote his origins to a rather shocking degree.

In the comics, he was a pilot who, after his plane his struck by lightning, inherits super-speed and thinks of himself as a god of speed - developing a cult-like following in the process. In the show, however, his origins are a lot more personal than that.

Showing up to torment Barry Allen and Team Flash, he set out to kill Iris West - the reason being that he was actually a time-remnant of Barry that was driven mad following Iris' death and the defeat of the original Savitar. And, in order to close the time loop and ensure that he continued to exist, he had to return to the past and kill Iris himself.

The decision to make Savitar a more personal villain was actually a really innovative idea, one that allowed his arrival to carry that much more gravity. Even though DC purists didn't love the idea, it's hard to deny that The Flash was at its best when the stories revolved around its characters. And it gave Grant Gustin a chance to absolutely thrive in an unexpected villain role.

That said, the execution of the narrative was far from perfect and the problematic time travel logic made the whole thing far too confusing - not-to-mention the fact that the on-the-nose dialogue resulted in fans figuring out the identity twist long before it was officially revealed.