Warning: contains spoilers for Flash Annual 2024!

The Flash is learning of a new and dangerous side to the Speed Force, and it suggests a dark future for the Scarlet Speedster and his allies. The Speed Force works in mysterious ways, rebuking any attempts to totally comprehend it. In Flash Annual 2024, Barry Allen encounters the Stillness, a mysterious new faction in the life of the Flash. Barry’s meeting suggests potential dark times ahead for the Flash family.

Flash Annual 2024 is written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Scott Koblish, Amancay Nahuelpan, George Kambadais and Tom Derenick. Wally is missing, seemingly stuck in the garden outside of space and time. He goes on a mind-bending trip through reality, including a stop at the Source Wall. Afterward, Wally confronts the Stillness.

They give cryptic hints as to their origins, indicating they were former speedsters, and strongly imply that the Speed Force emanates from the Source Wall.

The Speed Force Is One of the DC Universe’s Great Unknowns

The Source Wall Is Just as Mysterious as the Speed Force

Flash Annual 2024 is the next major chapter in writer Simon Spurrier’s run on the title. For the past several months, Spurrier and his artistic collaborators have teased new and terrifying developments with the Speed Force. A new group calling itself the Stillness is making their presence felt, their agenda mysterious. Wally has discovered a garden, apparently accessible only to speedsters. The only downside of this paradise is it drains his willingness to leave, making it a trap. Spurrier has introduced exciting new layers to both the Flash and the Speed Force.

Since it was first identified in Mark Waid’s seminal Flash run of the 1990s, the Speed Force has remained a frontier in the DC Universe. Subsequent generations of creators have refined the nature and mechanics of the Speed Force, keeping it as mysterious as when it was introduced. Flash Annual 2024 all but says that the Speed Force originates beyond the Source Wall. The Source Wall’s purpose, like that of the Speed Force, has changed over time too. The Source Wall, regardless of interpretation, is the key to great power, and apparently great speed as well.

The Stillness Are a Dark Omen for The Flash Family

Is the Fate of the Flash Family to Become Burnt Out Husks?

The Stillness, the strange beings who have been observing the Flash since Spurrier’s run began, finally get something approaching an origin in this issue as well, and it does not bode well for the Flash Family. While they do not tip their hand too much, there is a sense they were once speedsters. They traveled the universe, delighting in its wonders—but they grew bored. Flash swears a similar fate will not befall him. However, it feels inevitable at this point. This revelation also casts a dark shadow over the Flash Family, as this could be their end as well.

Flash Annual 2024 is on sale now from DC Comics!