Warning! Spoilers for Flash #769 below!
The Flash‘s latest time travel adventure may be accidentally creating a new horrifying team of supervillains unlike anything we’ve seen before. When Wally West chose to retire from being the Flash, nobody could have anticipated his last case would have him body hopping through historical speedsters, helping to repair damage to the Speed Force throughout time and space. Although Wally seems to be handling it well with the help of Barry Allen, it would appear that his journey is laying the groundwork for a new group of superpowered creatures gaining their power from the Speed Force itself.
After the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wally West chose to retire as the Flash, wanting to spend more time with his wife Linda and their two children instead of making them a target for the next big villain. When he and Barry race one more time before Wally is de-powered, there is an unexpected moment within the Speed Force and Wally disappears with only his costume remaining. With the help of Mr. Terrific and Green Arrow, Barry learns that Wally is alive but now stranded millions of years ago in the past. With Barry acting as his guide, Wally tries to make sense of his current situation, which sees him jumping from body to body of famous speedsters. It is deduced that Wally is being transported through time to help repair damage to the Speed Force, which is not only affecting the powers of other speedsters but also is creating new and unique threats for Wally to battle.
In Flash #769 by Jeremy Adams, David LaFuente and Brandon Peterson, the Flash finds himself in the future occupying the body of Bart Allen aka Impulse where he and the mysterious yet energetic Gold Beetle are dealing with an oversized Dominator on the prowl. Much like a velociraptor Wally encountered in the prehistoric era, the Dominator has been infected with Speed Force, thus making it grow to such immense heights. To make matters worse, Wally has to figure out how to siphon the excess energy before it becomes unstable and triggers a cataclysmic explosion. Since Wally barely escaped a previous explosion, he and the Gold Beetle work together along with guidance from his present day compatriots to plug this leak, save the future, and prepare for wherever and whenever he’ll end up next.
As Mr. Terrific pointed out, there is a pattern forming with the velociraptor gaining super speed and the Dominator growing in size, their link being a connection to the Speed Force and Wally himself. Wally is without a physical body, so his consciousness will continue to Quantum Leap to the next speedster and time period that requires repair, which means that any number of individuals or entities could suddenly be the next supervillain. The Flash’s villains are known for always having a connection to the Scarlet Speedster and in Wally’s case, he is not only empowering his newest villains but also leaving a trail throughout time to follow him. The only thing that could make it worse would be if this team found a leader, either someone new or somebody familiar, to rally them together against their accidental creator and enemy.
Although the velociraptor seems to have perished and the Dominator shrunk back to normal, Flash’s villains have a habit of making a comeback, especially when the circumstances involve time travel. With Wally traveling to Germany during World War II to face the German Army as Jay Garrick, the fact that the Third Reich possesses the Spear of Destiny does not bode well. Wally West‘s latest trip through time feels like the Speed Force‘s Greatest Hits when it may actually be the introduction to a new evil that the Flash regrettably has a hand in creating.
