Flash

Bartholomew Henry “Barry” Allen is a student at Central City University who was struck by a bolt of lightning one fateful night, gaining the ability to think and move at incredible superhuman speeds. Using these powers, he became a superhero in Central City known as The Flash, fighting against criminals like Captain Boomerang while trying his best to keep a low profile in the process. He is also desperate to prove his father’s innocence for the grisly murder of his mother.

He was eventually discovered and subsequently monitored by supergenius Lex Luthor and was then later recruited by Bruce Wayne to be a member of the Justice League in order to help defend Earth after the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday.

Following his recruitment to the team, Flash played a pivotal role in the resurrection of Superman. With the team now fully assembled, Flash greatly contributed to the successful assault against the forces of General Steppenwolf of Apokolips, forcing the alien invasion to retreat from Earth. Afterwards, Barry was hired for a position at the Central City Police Department’s crime lab, much to his imprisoned father’s delight.

Later, he used the Speed Force to travel across the multiverse, and, at various points during his travels, met another version of himself and an alternate version of Batman, from different universes.

Biography

Childhood

Bartholomew Henry “Barry” Allen was born on September 30, 1992, in Central City, Ohio, to Henry and Nora Allen.^[1]

Mother’s Death

In 2001, when Barry was 9 years old, Nora Allen was killed at their home, and his father, Henry, was sent to Iron Heights Penitentiary for her murder. While Barry always claimed that his father didn’t kill his mother, nobody believed him. Fueled by his determination to prove his father’s innocence, Barry began studying forensic science in hopes of one day clearing his father’s name.^[1]

Gaining his powers

One night, Barry was struck by a bolt of lightning, which gave him the power to move, think and act at inhuman speeds, as well as the ability to vibrate his body on a microscopic level.^[1]

Monitored by Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor, in his search for Metahumans, discovered Barry while compiling surveillance evidence of his activities. The security camera of a pharmacy showed Barry stopping a mugger holding a cashier at gunpoint. With his super speed, Barry raced over to the counter and knocked the mugger out as his lightning trail caused the lights to momentarily flicker.^[2]

Apprehending Captain Boomerang

After a string of jewelry heists, Captain Boomerang’s efforts finally caught the attention of Barry. On their first encounter, Barry arrested Captain Boomerang but was fooled into letting him go when Boomerang convinced Barry that he had in fact been impersonated.

On their next encounter, Captain Boomerang managed to knock out Barry and tie him to his Rocket Boomerang, which Boomerang sent hurtling into the Earth’s atmosphere. As the Rocket finally began to descend back onto the ground, Barry managed to free himself and proceeded to capture Boomerang.^[3]

When Captain Boomerang attempted to rob the Central City Diamond Exchange, Barry appeared as Boomerang knocked out his partner to take the fall, stating there was “no honor among thieves” before launching Boomerang against a nearby wall, leaving him for the police to arrest. When taking into account of the incident and Barry’s previous skirmishes against Captain Boomerang, ARGUS referred to him by the name “Flash.”^[4]

Amanda Waller’s files

After Task Force X successfully defeated the terrorist attack of Enchantress and Incubus in Midway City, Amanda Waller met with Bruce Wayne, asking him to use his connections to divert the rumors following the calamitous events, and in exchange she gave Bruce her files on multiple notable Metahumans and other superpowered beings, including Barry, June Moone, Arthur Curry, and Victor Stone.^[4]

Meeting Iris West

to be added

Coming together

Visiting Henry Allen

Sometime in January 2017, Barry went to visit his father, Henry Allen, at Iron Heights Penitentiary, where Henry had been wrongly imprisoned after being convicted of murdering his wife Nora Allen in 2001. Barry and Henry talk about Barry’s obsession with proving his father’s innocence; Barry believes the original investigation was botched. Henry tells his son not to keep coming to visit him, which Barry responded to by asking him to never ask him to do again.^[1]

Meeting Bruce Wayne

Barry returned to his loft after visiting his father, flipping the breaker on to reveal his home, a flat filled with monitors displaying a wide variety of information, including diagnostics of his suit, as well as an episode of Rick and Morty. In the dark, sitting in Barry’s “second favorite chair”, was Bruce Wayne, who promptly introduced himself and handed Barry a printout of the security camera footage of his encounter with a mugger found on the LexCorp files.

Barry recognized himself in the photo and tried, unsuccessfully, to dismiss the person as merely someone who looks like him, but “definitely not” him. Bruce, however, told Barry that he knew Barry has abilities, but just needed to know what they are. Barry nervously rambled about his skills, including “very competitive ice dancing”, when Bruce suddenly hurled a batarang at him, but Barry instinctively used his speed to dodge and catch it.

After awed Barry deduced that Bruce was the Batman. Bruce noted his abilities as being fast, but Barry digressed, calling the deduction an oversimplification. Bruce moved on, telling Barry about the team he was putting together to battle a powerful enemy, and almost immediately, Barry wanted in. Bruce was taken aback slightly, but when Barry told him that he needed friends, Bruce accepted his reasoning. Barry, admiring the Batarang, promptly asked Bruce if he could keep it as a souvenir.

As Barry and Bruce headed to his car, Barry consumed an entire box of pizza and explained the concept of the Speed Force, and how it allows him to consume insane amounts of food. However, when Barry asked Bruce just how many there were on the team, Bruce’s response prompted Barry to then ask what exactly Bruce’s powers were, and the latter replied “I’m rich.”^[1][5]

Skirmish under Gotham Harbor

Arriving in Gotham, Barry and Bruce rendezvous with Diana Prince, who informs the latter on her progress with Victor Stone’s recruitment. Just then, Barry sees the Bat Signal and excitingly reminds Bruce that it meant they should get going, leading to Bruce and Diana sharing a look over the young vigilante’s behavior.

Meeting with Commissioner Gordon, the three are joined by Victor Stone, whose father was one of the S.T.A.R. Labs scientists kidnapped by the Parademons. The group managed to figure out that the scientists were being rallied underground at Gotham Harbor, thanks to Victor. As the group arrived, they witness Steppenwolf mercilessly murder one of the scientists after she did not reveal the location of a Mother Box. As the League began their attack, Barry begins rescuing the rest of the hostages before joining in the fight against the Parademons.

When Barry returns to the fight, Diana has hold of her sword, so Flash uses his speed to move the hand back in her grasp. Distracted by his accomplishment, Barry loses his footing and tumbles to the ground below. As Steppenwolf approaches them, Barry is grazed in the leg by a Parademon blast and is nearly taken before being saved by Diana. However, Steppenwolf proves to be too strong for the ragtag team to handle, catching a missile fired from the Knightcrawler and using it to flood the area before escaping. Luckily, Aquaman saves them by slowing the tide with his trident, allowing Barry and the others to get to safety.^[1]

Resurrecting Superman

The League regrouped in the Batcave to plan their next move. After discovering the capabilities of the Mother Box in Cyborg’s possession, the team decided to use the Genesis Chamber in the Kryptonian ship along with the Mother Box to resurrect Superman beliving that bringing him back not only completes the team but also increases their odds of defeating Steppenwolf,as a result result Victor and Barry dug up Clark’s grave, with the pair noting the abnormality in their task and bonding over their powers.

After bringing Superman’s body up, the team submerged the Kryptonian and Barry fired off an electrical charge that energized the Box, whose restorative energy field healed and revived the fallen hero. However, Superman, awakened disoriented and, believing them to be hostile, attacked the League, who were all but powerless against him. While Superman held back Diana, Arthur, and Victor simultaneously, Barry attempted to flank him, though this tactic quickly proved to be in vain as Superman could almost keep up with Barry’s speed, much to his terrified amazement. Flash, in haste, attempted to evade Superman’s attacks, but is knocked into the wall of the memorial and incapacitated.^[1]

Waiting for another plan

The team returned to the Batcave where Cyborg figured out Steppenwolf’s plan. The team made a plan to take down Steppenwolf and stop the Unity, in which Barry plays a key part. Because of Silas’ sacrifice, the League is able pinpoint Steppenwolf’s location abandoned town located in Russia, Barry and the League took off in the Flying Fox to face the Apokoliptian. Upon arriving, Barry and the others observe as Batman leads the Parademons away and takes down the shield surrounding Steppenwolf’s base. Barry then is tasked with running laps around the facility to build up a charge, which will be required to get Cyborg into the boxes. He is shot by a parademon, and has to take a few seconds to heal, but it’s too late. The Unity forms, and the world is scorched, turning into a clone of Apokolips, with a Boom Tube opening to allow Darkseid to take full control of the boxes. Barry begins witnessing the destruction of Earth, and then remembers that he can reverse time to save the world. Realizing that all life on earth will be destroyed Barry breaks his one rule: going faster then the speed of light. As he runs times reverses to the point just before the unity activated and he manages to send Cyborg into the boxes, and after destabilizing the boxes, Cyborg and Superman separate them and prevent the Unity saving the Earth. A defeated but still determined Steppenwolf attempts to attack the league only to be stabbed by Aquaman, punched into the portal opened by Apokolips ruler Darkseid by Superman, and decapitated by Wonder Woman. Flash rejoins the time as they all get a glimps of the alien tyrant before the Boom Tube closes.

Post War For Earth

After the battle with Steppenwolf, Barry returned to his normal life, thanks to recommendations from Bruce Wayne, Barry was hired for a position in the Central City Police Department’s crime lab. Barry then visited his father, displaying his letter of employment while explaining that it wasn’t the greatest position, but it was, in fact, a steady job for him.^[1]

Meeting Barry Allen of Earth-1

Sometime later, Barry wound up in a memory of S.T.A.R. Labs from Earth-1 via accessing the Speed Force, accidentally coming across that universe’s version of himself in the process. Confused, he asked the other Barry Allen where he was and what was happening, to which the other Barry said he did not know. He then asked the other Barry if his suit was cosplay and if he wanted a selfie, to which the other Flash said no, exclaiming that he was also the Flash. Barry was confused by this name that the Earth-1 Barry had given himself but took a liking to it. The Earth-1 Barry said that the situation was complicated, and then the two Barrys complimented each other’s suits, but then they both quickly stood back awkwardly and shook hands, both saying “I’m Barry Allen” in unison, which freaked the two of them out. The Earth-1 Barry said that their encounter should be impossible now, to which Barry asked why not knowing what he meant. The Earth-1 Barry was taken aback by Barry’s unknowing of the Crisis that was occurring in the Multiverse. Before the Earth-1 Barry could explain the situation any further, Barry faded out while saying that he had told Victor Stone this was possible.^[6]

Knightmare

Darkseid victorious

At some point in a possible future, Lois Lane would be killed, with Batman having been unable to prevent it. Consumed with grief, Superman was left susceptible to Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation and allied himself with the forces of Apokolips, becoming a dark, tyrannical ruler of the planet.^[7] Earth was successfully terraformed by the Mother Boxes and the Regime was founded to aid Superman in his totalitarian regime of Earth, mercilessly killing anybody who opposed him. Batman promptly founded the Insurgency in order to combat this new threat, thus beginning a long conflict.^[2]

The warning

After Batman was ambushed and killed by Superman, Flash got ready to put the Insurgency’s backup plan into action. With the aid of Cyborg’s calculations,^[8] Barry was able to use his cosmic treadmill to run back in time to warn Bruce Wayne of the dangers that Superman could pose.^[9] However, as he reached the Batcave, a dismayed Flash realized that he traveled too far back in time by accident, to a time before Batman had met him or knew who he was. Nonetheless, Flash issued his brief warning of the war, and stressed the importance of Batman finding and founding the Justice League, right before he was pulled out of the timestream.^[2]

Personality

Barry Allen is a remarkably intelligent and determined individual, becoming a highly skilled forensic scientist to prove the innocence of his imprisoned father Henry Allen in the death of his mother Nora Allen. As the Flash, Barry is determined to keep his secret identity a secret from others, demonstrated by the many excuses he came up with when confronted by Bruce Wayne, despite none of them being convincing enough to fool the latter. When finally exposed by Bruce, Barry was quick to agree to join the Justice League, due to his great desire to gain friends he could relate to.

However, despite his incredible powers and happy personality, Barry initially remained insecure and unsure of himself, since all of his League teammates seemed prepared to do battle against Steppenwolf’s army. In addition to this, Flash had a penchant for drifting around and is plagued by multiple social disorders. However, following the battle against the Apokoliptian forces, Barry developed a stronger sense of confidence, as seen when he didn’t hesitate to face the disoriented Superman after his resurrection, despite being visibly terrified.

Despite his tragic childhood, Barry is quite laid-back, witty, bubbly, somewhat childish and humorous, in stark contrast to the very calm, mature, dark and serious Batman, as well as most of the Justice League. Regardless of these differences though, Flash idolizes Batman, promptly expressing a desire to keep a Batarang, and gushing about seeing the Bat-Signal. Flash seems to idolize and admire Superman just as much, however, as the Man of Steel’s heroic death is what inspired Barry to also more openly use his own metahuman powers and come out into the light as the Flash.

Barry’s humorous attitude, however, initially annoys his fellow Justice Leaguers; Batman and Aquaman in particular, as well as Cyborg, and even the considerate Wonder Woman, though she still treats him with compassion.^[10]

Barry was nonetheless able to strike up friendships with most of them: bonding with Victor Stone over their similar accidents and insecurities, looking up to Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince as mentors, and developing a friendly rivalry with Superman, even challenging him to a race to the Pacific coast to see which one of them was truly faster. Barry can also be extremely serious on occasion, notably during his regular visits to his imprisoned father, Henry Allen.

Powers and abilities

Powers

Speed Force conduit: Barry Allen, after being struck by lightning and doused in nearby chemicals, gained a metahuman connection to the Speed Force, an extra-dimensional energy field, granting him many speed-based superhuman abilities.^[11]

• Superhuman speed: Barry is capable of moving at tremendous hypersonic speeds, an ability so powerful that his movements are invisible to the naked eye. Allen notably ran from a fridge to knock out a mugger and returned before the milk bottle he was holding could fall. Later, he was able to draw on a man’s face when visiting his father in Iron Heights Penitentiary too fast for him or anybody else to notice. When the Justice League attempted to restrain a confused and angry Superman following his revival, Flash was able to evade the majority of the Kryptonian’s attacks, only being hit due to stumbling. This shows that Flash is possibly slightly faster than super-powered Kryptonians. That is inconclusive however, since a few minutes after that, Superman was able to dodge Flash’s super-speed charge (forcing Flash to run into Aquaman), though Barry may not have been using his full speed, and so later Superman and Flash decided to settle which one of them is faster with a race. At his fastest, and most crucial moment, Barry was able to force himself to move far beyond the speed of light in order to undo the Unity. In addition, the intensity of his speed allows the Flash to deliver superhumanly strong attacks (enough to leave Aquaman dazed for a few minutes after an accidental collision), as well as to run along vertical surfaces, across the surface of water, through solid matter, into other dimensions of the Multiverse, and even through time itself.^[11]
• Regenerative healing factor: Flash’s speed extends to him on a biological level, and thus, his metabolism functions faster than that of humans, which allows him to heal any injuries within a short time-frame. Hence, Flash required only a few minutes to heal from getting shot in the leg by a Parademon plasma bolt. His healing factor was almost instant.
  • Accelerated metabolism: Because of Flash’s accelerated metabolism, he burns calories at an accelerated rate, keeping his body slim and fit, so this requires him to intake a high amount of calories to function normally. Due to this, Flash describes himself as a “snack hole”: a black hole of snacks.

• Superhuman reflexes: Flash possesses reflexes far greater than those of a normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion. Fortunately for Flash’s sanity, he can relax this ability to enable him to interact with and tolerate the real world. While in this state, Flash is also able to outpace the speed of other forces like gravity, allowing him to move faster than an object can be affected by gravity and begin falling. His reflexes are faster than normal people can even perceive. He was able to easily dodge a batarang thrown at him by Bruce Wayne, with it appearing to be moving at him in slow motion (at least 62 times slower than in real time), and Bruce himself almost frozen in place from Barry’s perspective. While saving Iris West from a car crash, Barry sees her and the flying objects around her as if they were suspended in mid-air. Even the superhumanly fast Wonder Woman is far slower than Flash, and is seen to be moving in slow motion from his perspective. However, Superman is shown to be capable of moving at a similar speed, able to nearly match Flash on one occasion, and outpace him on another, to the point where a friendly wager was made between the two afterwards in a race to see who was truly faster.
  • Accelerated perception: This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.
• Extreme force generation: While moving at an accelerated speed, Flash generates superhuman levels of momentum, which allow him to enhance the force behind his attacks, impacts, and collisions, often propelling people and objects several feet, that he uses to compensate for his average strength. Hence, Flash was able to easily mow down an entire squad of Parademons by colliding with them at immense speed, defeat Captain Boomerang in the same swift manner, sending a mugger flying with a single push. When saving Iris from her car accident, Flash had to carefully guide her out of danger to prevent her from getting whiplash. When Flash accidentally collides with the extremely durable Aquaman, he sends the latter flying into some steps, breaking them and leaving the Atlantean dazed for several minutes.
• Momentum negation: Flash also can come to a full stop, despite the extreme inertia of his movements, allowing him to further the illusion of having not moved at all if he moves at super-speed and returns to his previous location, before anyone can notice it.
• Superhuman agility: Flash’s agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels, allowing him to navigate while moving at superhuman speed. Thus, Flash managed to dodge most of the attacks from Steppenwolf and some from Superman. This coordination, however, isn’t an intuitive trait, as Barry is still slightly clumsy, sometimes tripping over himself mid run.
• Superhuman stamina: Flash’s body can handle the stress of moving at superhuman speeds for extended periods without getting tired or weak, so long as he’s not running on an empty stomach.
• Superhuman durability: Barry is capable of resisting tremendous kinetic impact forces that could easily crush or kill a human, without suffering any serious external or internal injuries.
• Intangibility: Flash can phase himself through solid objects by vibrating his molecules at super speed.^[11] He quickly phased to avoid Darkseid’s destruction in order to go back in time.
• Molecular oscillation: Flash can break glass by using vibration.
• Interdimensional travel: Flash’s incredible speed enables him to travel into other realities of the Multiverse.^[11]

• Time-travel/Chronokinesis: Flash can run fast enough to break through the fabric of the space-time continuum, enabling him to travel forward or back in time to monitor or alter past events. Flash notably went back in time a few minutes, to help Superman and Cyborg stop the Unity in time, and later, with the help of Cyborg’s calculations,^[12] the Flash from an alternate future traveled back to warn Batman of the potential danger Darkseid poses, showing Bruce a vision of the Knightmare future.
  • Time Regression: Flash can rewind the time.

• Electricity generation: While moving at incredible speeds, Barry generates bolts of electricity which can cause nearby technology to short-circuit or overload. He was able to charge himself enough to charge a Mother Box with enough energy to jump-start Scout Ship 0344’s Genesis Chamber. According to Amanda Waller’s files, Flash can also charge the air vortexes that he generates with electricity, thereby further increasing their offensive capabilities. He is also capable of using this ability for smaller, precise scales, such as lighting a firecracker with a tiny spark he generated by snapping his fingers.

Abilities

• Genius-level intellect: Barry Allen is an exceptionally intelligent science enthusiast, with aptitudes in physics, forensics, and engineering. Notably, Barry was capable of designing and building his Flash suit from anti-friction material employed by NASA, impressing even Batman with the sophistication. Since his childhood, Barry has been devoted to dedicating himself to studying forensic science to prove his father’s innocence in the murder of his mother.
  • Expert engineer/scientist: Barry Allen possesses an intimate understanding of quantum mechanics, mechanical engineering, and electronics, allowing him to construct the sophisticated Flash suit using materials that, in addition to holding up against immense levels of heat and friction, ground the excess currents of energy he experiences while moving at tremendous speeds.^[13]
  • Musician: Barry claimed he’s capable of playing the viola to Bruce Wayne.
  • Bilingualism: Barry speaks his native English and knows sign language. He also claims that he knows gorilla sign language, however there is no difference between sign language used by humans and gorillas, so this is an attempt at humour.
• Skilled combatant: Despite having no formal training in hand-to-hand combat, Barry’s abilities allow him to execute attacks against opponents with superhuman amounts of force. He was able to easily subdue Captain Boomerang with a single blow, send a mugger flying with a single push, and dodge multiple attacks from Superman before being defeated. He was also able to take down many Parademons single handedly during the War for Earth. However, Flash himself has admitted to Batman that he is very inexperienced.

Equipment

• Flash suit: Barry Allen wears a protective scarlet suit with high tensile wires holding the various pieces together, emblazoned with a golden lightning bolt design on the chest, like his superhero alter-ego the Flash. The suit is composed of specific materials, with Bruce Wayne noting that it is constructed from the same silica-based quartz fabric employed by NASA to protect spaceships during re-entry from burning up. The suit is worn by Barry to protect him from the immense friction encountered when he runs, as well as being overall resistant to extreme temperatures.
  • Knightmare Flash suit: In an alternate future where Superman becomes a tyrant of Earth under the control of the Anti-Life Equation, Barry wears a more mechanical version of the suit designed by Bruce Wayne.^[12] This suit is more heavily armored and streamlined, while also having a retractable face shield that allows Barry to smash through obstacles without sustaining damage.
• Cosmic treadmill: In an alternate future the Cosmic treadmill is a powerful treadmill built by Cyborg using a Mother Box. It was used by the Flash to travel back in time and stop Darkseid and Superman’s conquest of Earth.

Relationships

Trivia

• In DC Comics, Bartholomew Henry Allen was a forensic scientist who was struck by a lightning bolt and fell into a coma. When he awoke, he could think and move at incredible speeds. After deciding to use his powers to become a hero, he created a red suit and became The Flash.
• Barry is the first person in the DC Extended Universe to coin the terms “Speed Force”.
• Barry is usually portrayed as a blond with blue eyes, but the DCEU version is black-haired with brown eyes.
• Barry is stated to still be a college student when he joins the Justice League, making the Flash one of the youngest members, along with Cyborg.
• Although his superhero alter ego “Flash” is seemingly never mentioned in dialogue in any of the films, he is mentioned by that name in Suicide Squad during the intro sequence of the film, as part of the file Amanda Waller has compiled about Digger Harkness, indicating that ARGUS is the first to refer to him by that name.
• The only people who know Barry’s identity as the Flash, other than the members of the Justice League, are Lex Luthor and Alfred Pennyworth.
• Barry is Jewish, which he mentions when he describes a picture of himself to Bruce Wayne.
  • Coincidentally, his actor, Ezra Miller, is also Jewish.
• Barry is right-handed, and, supposedly, can play the viola and is fluent in Sign Language.
  • Barry also mentioned a fluency in “Gorilla Sign Language”, a reference to the Flash telepathic villain Gorilla Grodd.
• Barry is a fan of Rick and Morty.
• (Justice League 2017 only) It is implied that Barry could be a fan of Korean Pop, as the song “As If It’s Your Last” by BLACKPINK is playing on one of the computer monitors in his flat.
• (Justice League 2017 only) Barry claims to have many phobias including drowning, bugs, guns, “obnoxiously tall people”, and murder.
• In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, one of the names Barry comes up with as his superhero alter-ego is Lightning Lad. In DC Comics, Lightning Lad is the name of a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, an organization of young heroes from the 30th Century.
• The Flash makes a small cameo appearance in the hand-drawn “imaginary” adventures in the credits of Shazam!, racing against Darla Dudley in her superhero form.

Behind the scenes

• This is the fifth live-action portrayal of Barry Allen, following Rod Haase, John Wesley Shipp, Kenny Johnston, and Grant Gustin.
• Before Ezra Miller was cast as Flash, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pine, Ryan Kwanten, Matthew Fox and Scott Porter were in early talks for the role of Flash.
• This is the first big-screen incarnation of the Flash.
• Adam Brody would have played the Flash in the cancelled film Justice League: Mortal.
• This version of the Flash makes a cameo appearance in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event, marking the first and so far only time the Arrowverse and the DCEU have interacted. The episode was notably co-written by comic writer Marv Wolfman, who also wrote the novelization for the Suicide Squad film.

References

External links