How Many Speedsters?

With the promos suggesting that Flash: Rebirth will see speedsters killed at an alarming rate, the question naturally arises: How many speedsters are there to kill?

Assuming we’re looking only at modern-day characters in the mainstream DC Universe, and not bringing in anyone from the future or alternate realities, we have…

Major Players:

  • Flash: Jay Garrick – the original. And the only major Flash who has not already “died” at some point.
  • Flash: Barry Allen – not likely to die, given that DC is building a major relaunch around him.
  • Flash: Wally West – depends on whether you believe DC about how he’ll have a major part in the DC Universe over the next year.
  • Kid Flash: Bart Allen – They just brought him back. It would be silly to kill him off again this soon. Not that I’d put it past DC…
  • Liberty Belle/Jesse Quick (Jesse Chambers) – she’s focusing on the Liberty Belle legacy these days, plus it would be bad form to kill off the only major female speedster. Again, not that I’d put it past DC…
  • Max Mercury – Rival’s spirit has taken possession of his body, so he’s not dead…though his spirit seems to be hanging around the Speed Force last we looked.

Likely Possibilities for Dead Speedsters:

  • The Rival – last seen in possession of Max’s body
  • Savitar – technically already dead, but only in the sense that Barry was.
  • Blue TrinityChristina is alive as of Salvation Run, and the other two members are unaccounted for.
  • Flash: John Fox – technically a future Flash, he’s visited the present day enough that he would make an impression on long-term readers.
  • Kapitalist Kouriers – Cassiopeia’s death kicked off Dead Heat. Presumably the other two members are still around.
  • Zoom II – just depowered in Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge
  • Mas y Menos – appeared in the DCU during 52 and haven’t been used much
  • Captain Boomerang, Jr. – can manage limited super-speed
  • Baroness Blitzkrieg – villain introduced in the Geoff Johns-penned Justice Society of America

Long Shots:

  • Speed Demon – hasn’t had his powers in years, and likes it that way
  • Professor Zoom – dead, but with Barry returning and Zoom II being de-powered, it wouldn’t surprise me to see another dead character return to life – though killing him again right away seems unlikely.
  • Blitzen (Shadow Cabinet) – with the Milestone characters being incorporated into the DCU, she’s presumably on the table…but it wouldn’t make sense to kill someone off immediately after getting the rights to the character.
  • Blur – genetically engineered Martian/human hybrid, seen briefly in the Son of Vulcan miniseries
  • Jay Garrick clone created by the Brotherhood of Evil in Outsiders; probably degenerated by now
  • Edit: Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash of the Super Young Team – introduced in Final Crisis, not only is he a new character, but his team will be appearing in Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance at the same time as Flash: Rebirth.
  • Anyone from Doralla Kon’s dimension, which runs at a different speed than Earth’s universe.  She hasn’t appeared since 1965, but odd ideas from the Silver Age have been cropping up quite a bit in DC comics lately.

Wow…there are more speedsters in the DCU than I thought.

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8 thoughts on “How Many Speedsters?

  1. Brandan

    Yeah, I’d say Doralla Kon is the longest shot. A dimension full of speedsters would be silly for them to bring back just to kill off. But my initial alarm and worry has decreased, and intrigue has replace SOME of it. I wonder what villain would be killing people like this, especially speedsters! After Rogue’s Revenge, it probably won’t be them, so who?

    My first thought is Professor Zoom. Just because I still expect Geoff to bring him back to the forefront as Barry takes the limelight in Flash.

    Reply
  2. ted

    heh… wouldn’t it be funny if it was Marvel’s Quicksilver? Maybe in a similar kinda dig like the whole “Buried Alien” thing…

    Reply
  3. Kelson Post author

    Bringing in alternate realities really broadens the field, which is why I deliberately stuck with “New Earth” speedsters (see paragraph 2). After I’d posted it, I realized that I should have left Doralla Kon out for this reason.

    Though Walter West would bring up some interesting character possibilities.

    Reply
  4. James madison

    im confused theres barry llen on cw then theres the reverse flash in the cw but i thought the reverse flash was zoom yet the reverse flash dies at the end of season 1 of the flash in cw then they say that a black colored seedster is zoom in the begining of season 2 of the flash so whos who or did the cw writers just fuck up the story

    Reply

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