While Zack Snyder’s version of Flash may have won the strangest Oscar of all time, there’s plenty of room to improve the character in the DCU. And the best and clearest way to break from what the general audience know about Flash is to start with a version of the character they likely haven’t seen before. Wally West.
While Wally West has run off the comic page and made it to animation and live-action, to most people, his story is still relatively unknown. It is also a story unlike any other in the history of DC Comics. Which is exactly why James Gunn and Peter Safran would be smart to use Wally as their Scarlet Speedster.
Wally West Is The Kid Who Made Good
Before Wally West started his superhero career, he was the biggest Flash fan around. A kid from Blue Valley, Nebraska, Wally was lucky enough to have an aunt who lived in Central City, home of the Flash. More than that, his aunt, Iris West, also happened to be dating the Flash, though she didn’t know it.
A dull day at his aunt’s boyfriend’s lab turned Wally West into Kid Flash. Suddenly, the kid from a small town was running at the speed of light and fighting crime next to his idol. Wally West did the one thing every comics reader wishes they could do: he turned wish fulfillment into reality.
Wally West Is The Hero We Can All See In Ourselves
Every kid who reads a comic dreams of having superpowers, and we see ourselves in the characters. Sure, we may not want our parents to be brutally gunned down in Crime Alley, but we all imagine how cool it would be to drive the Batmobile and save Gotham from Joker’s latest scheme. But no character comes closest to being the embodiment of the reader’s dream than Wally West.
And, because Wally West is essentially one of us, he also suffers from the most obvious mental issue that would come with reaching out dreams: impostor syndrome. While it isn’t as bad as it once was for the third Flash, Wally has always wondered if he deserves to take on the mantle, and if he is doing a good enough job.
That self-doubt, which lies at the core of Wally West, makes him relatable in a way that few other superheroes are. Gunn already understands how important that element of a hero is for the audience to connect with them: Superman has a whole speech about it at the end of the 2025 movie. But with Wally West, it is built into who he is.
By using Wally West as Flash, the DCU can wash away the bad taste that came from the Flash movie and the character’s more goofy demeanor in the DCEU and make him a hero who will be celerated on sceen as much as he is on the comics page.
Created By
Gardner Fox, Harry Lampert, Carmine Infantino
First Appearance
Flash Comics
Alias
Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, Avery Ho
Alliance
Justice Society of America, Justice League, Teen Titans
Race
Human
Franchise
D.C.