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Who is Dark Flash? A new complex character will be making his way into the DC Universe with a debut in The Flash. The new film will be premiering on June 16. Due to a toy reveal and a Japanese trailer for The Flash, it is known that Dark Flash will appear in the movie and may even play a significant antagonist role. This mysterious character who will be introduced in The Flash has raised a lot of questions.
Who Is Dark Flash?
The Flash is a standalone film with Barry Allen as the protagonist following his Justice League team-ups. The story follows Barry as he travels back in time to try and save his mother’s life. In the process, he causes timeline chaos with General Zod as the villain of the movie.
A Japanese Flash trailer seems to reveal another movie villain. The trailer contains a shot of one of the two Barry Allens in a spiky black costume. This shot appears to reveal the identity of Dark Flash. In the American trailer, the spikes in this shot are smoothed out.
Thanks to the toy reveal of the spiky-costumed character and the Japanese trailer, we know that Dark Flash will be playing a role in the movie. Mark Waid and Paul Pelletier created the character. He first appeared in DC comics The Flash #150 in 1990. The character is actually Walter West, a different version of The Flash (Wally West) from an alternate timeline. Walter goes down a dark path that leads him to become the opposing Flash character after he is unable to save his wife Linda Park’s life.
Who Is Black Flash and How Does He Differ from Dark Flash?
Dark Flash and Black Flash are two separate characters in DC comics. Although Dark Flash has never appeared in live action, Black Flash has appeared on the small screen. Dark Flash is Walter West in the comics but does not feature in the new film since Walter West is not in the movie. A look at the McFarlane toy suggests that although his name is Dark Flash, this character is really the comics’ Black Flash.
There are no definite origins for Black Flash. The character is simply an extension of the Speed Force as a darker version of the Flash. Two men have “become” Black Flash. Barry Allen became Black Flash in The Flash: Rebirth. Eobard Thawne, aka Reverse-Flash, was turned into Black Flash after getting the zombie Black Lantern ring during the events of Blackest Night.
Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and Ron Wagner created Black Flash. The character first appeared briefly in The Flash #138 in June 1998 before properly appearing in The Flash #141 in September 1998. Dark Flash is basically the Grim Reaper for speedsters. He has been compared to Death in the comic books, collecting speedsters’ souls and returning them to the Speed Force.
Multiple versions of The Flash have seen Dark Flash before they die, including the Barry Allen incarnation. This character looks more like a zombie than a man. His powers include super speed, immortality, and the ability to travel through and change time.
How Does Dark Flash/Black Flash Impact the Movie?
Dark Flash has appeared in both Smallville and the Arrowverse. The character also appeared in Season 11 of Smallville, where the character was alternatively known as Speed Demon and Black Racer. Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 and The Flash Season 3 also featured the character.
Due to the trailers that have dropped for The Flash so far, there are two versions of Barry Allen in the movie. One of the versions of Barry will likely become Dark Flash. The Flash loosely adapts the 2011 comic book event Flashpoint, in which Barry goes back in time to change his own origin story and create a new DC Universe. As such, Barry will run into the other version of himself in this new timeline. That Flash might become Dark Flash and try to kill Barry.
In any case, the movie’s Dark Flash will almost assuredly be more a version of Black Flash, utilizing the former moniker as merely a preference of the filmmakers.
