For those who don’t know, the adventures of the elderly Bruce Wayne and his young protege Terry McGinnis continue with the Batman Beyond comic book series at DC Comics. Continuing to document the story of the Batman of the future, the comic has just brought back one of the most popular members of the Justice League, and the DC universe overall, into its ranks. With an older Flash making his return in the final page of the most recent issue, we break down how the current events of the series warrant the scarlet speedster’s return and just which Flash we’re dealing with here exactly.
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Terry McGinnis is currently in a really rough spot in his self-titled series, losing his memory and having his costume stolen by the villain, False Face. Using his technologically advanced suit, and appearance, to wreck havoc on Gotham City, the Batman Beyond villain runs smack dab into a fellow villain who just happens to be named Splitt. Splitt is unique in that he is a villain who is actually two different people sharing one body, for some of the time. The “two faced” speedster clearly has some connections to the Speed Force itself, laying out the story of how he he was born with his powers and whose father may or may not be the Flash himself.
As Bruce attempts to stop False Face and this new villainous speedster with the help of Terry’s brother and Ace, Wayne is confronted and assisted by none other than the Scarlet Speedster himself, the Flash. Now which Flash this is is open to debate, as it appears to look similar to the recent “future Barry Allen” that appeared in his comics but could also very well be Wally West sporting the crimson outfit. Though this isn’t the first time we’d be seeing the latter in the Batman Beyond universe if this was the case.
For a time, there was a little known spin-off animated series of Batman Beyond titled The Zeta Project, which followed a robot attempting to outrun the government and discover its own humanity. In this series, one of the younger government agencies sporting red hair and just so happened to be named “Wally West”. This was never confirmed to actually be the Flash but it still was a nice easter egg for DC fans watching the series.
With the current storyline wrapping up next issue, we’ll wait to see how the Flash manages to help Terry and Bruce wrap things up and hopefully learn more about Splitt’s origins and just who his father turned out to be.
What did you think of the Flash’s appearance in Batman Beyond? What other DC characters would you like to see appear in this future setting? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Beyond!
