The Flash: Comparing Barry and Wally's Powers
This article contains spoilers regarding tonight’s episode of The Flash.In ‘Untouchable,’ we [...]
This article contains spoilers regarding tonight's episode of The Flash.
In 'Untouchable,' we saw Wally West struggle with something he always had a problem with doing in the comics: phasing his body through solid structures. He had problems with phasing for quite some time — even years after becoming faster than Barry Allen and officially earning the "Fastest Man Alive" title.
At the end of tonight's episode, we see Wally master the art of phasing through solid objects, something he's always struggled with in the comics. Not only did he phase through a wall, he phased his blood through a fellow metahuman to disable said meta's powers.
While Wally has demonstrated his problems with phasing, Barry on the other hand, has been quite the phasing maestro when it comes to phasing ever since the first season.
Both in the comics and on The CW, Barry went straight to being The Flash while Wally had started off as Kid Flash. Ultimately Wally picks up the main Flash moniker after Barry sacrifices himself during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but that's something that we'll see in live action later on, if we even see it at all.
Though Wally, portrayed by actor Keiynan Lonsdale in the Arrowverse, is affectionately known as Kid Flash, the character has grown leaps and bounds from the time he's received his powers towards the beginning of the season and where the character is at now.
In an interview with Comicbook.com earlier today, Lonsdale stated that even though he feels his character will continue to grow, feeling invincible as a superhero isn't always necessarily a good thing.
"He [Wally] is all the way up. He's got super powers. He's got Jesse Quick, although not always around on this earth. He has good people in his life and he's feeling invincible," Lonsdale told Comicbook.com. "We've seen Barry feel invincible and when you feel invincible, things can go wrong."
Wally and Barry have both had a rough upbringing. They both lived in single-parent households. Barry living with Joe West as his biological father was inaccurately charged with the murder of his mother. Wally lived with his mother after her divorce from Joe West.
Lonsdale stated he thinks their childhoods are a big part of what makes the characters who they are today.
"Both Barry and Wally had an interesting childhood. People just do things in different ways and that's the reason why they both are who they are. I think Wally spent most his life not really knowing who he was as much as he thought," said Lonsdale. "He knew he wanted to be someone that made the right choices and I think for him, the fact that he has powers, he's part of something. He's part of a family and now has people that believe in him."
More The Flash News: Recap With Spoilers: Untouchable / Flash Battles Grodd On Earth-2 In "Attack On Gorilla City" Synopsis / Firestorm's Robbie Amell Is Back On Set With Caitlin Snow
The Flash airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
