Who Are the Other Speedsters in the DCU that Could Appear on The Flash

With Jay Garrick, Zoom, Jesse Quick and (soon) Wally West all joining the cast of The Flash this season, it seems like the popular CW show might run out of DC speedsters to introduce.Luckily for The Flash‘s showrunners, there are plenty of other speed based superheroes who could still appear on the show.Here’s a quick rundown of other speedsters who haven’t appeared on The Flash (yet):

Bart Allen

Bart Allen is Barry Allen’s grandson from the distant future who Iris sent into the past in hopes of slowing his Speed Force-fueled hyperaging.  Wally West (who was the Flash at the time) raced Bart around the world, shocking his metabolism back to normal.  Bart stuck around in present day, joining Young Justice as Impulse before “graduating” to the Teen Titans and renaming himself Kid Flash.  Eventually, Bart “graduated” and became the Flash after Wally disappeared during the events of Infinite Crisis, but the Rogues (accidentally) killed him during an attack planned by Bart’s evil clone.  Bart later came back to life during Final Crisis and re-took his “Kid Flash” persona once again. 

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash: High.  The Flahs has already dabbled in time travel, so there’s nothing stopping the showfrom introducing one of the Flash family’s most popular characters.  

Max Mercury

A time-traveling speedster, Max Mercury gained his powers via a dying Indian shaman.  Max has a deep understanding of the Speed Force and taught Jay Garrick, Johnny Quick and Wally West about the mysterious force that grants speedsters their powers.  Occasionally, Mercury has tried to actually travel into the Speed Force, reaching speeds fast enough that he actually travels through time.   Normally, Max can’t reach the same speeds as other speedsters, but does have greater agility and maneuverability that grants him an edge in battle.  Max mentored Bart Allen for a time, hoping to teach him patience (with mixed results).

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash: Moderate.  If Bart Allen gets introduced and Jay Garrick isn’t around for some reason, expect Max Mercury to appear alongside him.

Johnny Quick (Earth-3)

An evil speedster from an alternate dimension, Johnny Quick is a member of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, his universe’s equivalent to the Justice League.   Quick gained his powers either via ingesting a drug called “Speed Juice” (made from the blood of his predecessor) or via an accident similar to Barry’s.  Quick and the rest of the Crime Syndicate are regular foes of the Justice League and starred as the main villains of the DC event Forever Evil, in which Captain Cold killed Johnny by freezing off his legs. 

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Moderate.  There’s nothing stopping Johnny Quick from appearing on The Flash (after all, this season is all about alternate universes), but Johnny misses a bit of his bite if he’s not accompanied by his Crime Syndicate teammates. 

Johnny Quick (Earth-2)

Jesse Quick’s father, Johnny Quick was a Golden Age speedster who invented a formula that granted superspeed to its users.  Johnny was a member of the All-Star Squadron and eventually married fellow superhero Liberty Belle.  Johnny remained an occasional superhero until he “died” saving his daughter from the supervillain Savitar, a fellow Speed Force user. 

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Low.  Jesse Quick already has a father on the show and his name is Harrison Wells.  Sorry, Johnny, doesn’t look like you make the cut.  

Cobalt Blue

Cobalt Blue is the ancestor of Eobard Thrawne and the long lost twin brother of Barry Allen.  Given away on the night of his birth to cover up a case of medical negligence, Malcolm Thrawne grew up in a family of con artists, all of whom generated a mysterious “blue flame” to heal others.   Malcolm discovered the circumstances around his birth and grew to resent his biological brother for living the life he never had.  Eventually, Malcolm became a supervillain, Cobalt Blue, hoping to steal his brother’s speed with the blue flames developed by his adoptive family.   By stealing the speed of other Flashes, Cobalt Blue temporarily gained his own superspeed.

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Low.  We thought that Eddie Thrawne might become Cobalt Blue last season, but the producers chose a different path.  There’s always a chance that Eddie could come back as a supervillain, though.  

The Black Flash

The avatar of death for speedsters, the Black Flash only appears when a speedster is near death.   No one knows who or what the Black Flash is, but the undead creature inevitably appears when a person with a connection to the Speed Force is about to die.  The Black Flash appeared before Barry Allen, Johnny Quick and Bart Allen’s death and it also appeared to bring Wally West into the Speed Force, although Wally outraced the Black Flash, causing him to vanish. 

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Moderate.   There’s only one way to find out if the Black Flash exists in the world of The Flash, and that’s by killing a speedster.  

Savitar

A super speedster from the Cold War, Savitar gained his powers after lightning struck his experimental fighter jet.  Savitar learned how to use the Speed Force in new and bizarre ways, creating force fields, transfer his speed to other people and heal his injuries instantaneously.  Savitar built a cult around the worship of the Speed Force and sought to kill other speedsters to keep access to the Speed Force limited to himself and his followers.   The Flash collected a small army of speedsters to defeat Savitar and his army of speed imbued ninjas.

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Moderate.  Savitar would be a good “big bad” for a future season, especially if The Flash wants to expand on the Speed Force mythology.  

XS

Another one of Barry Allen’s grandchildren from the future, XS gained her grandfather’s superspeed powers and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century.  In addition to her Speed Force-related powers, XS also can fly thanks to her handy Legion Flight Ring.

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Low.  Unless The Flash wants to introduce the Legion of Super-Heroes, there’s no real reason to introduce both Impulse and XS.  If I had to guess which character The Flash planned on introducing, I’m going with Impulse. 

Mas y Menos

Twin teen superheroes, Mas y Menos can use their superspeed only if they’re touching each other.  Mas y Menos first appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon and have only made a few cameos in the comics.

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Low.  I guess The Flash could use the characters in a standalone episode, but these characters haven’t really contributed much to any DC story ever.  

Inertia

Inertia is the evil clone of Bart Allen, created by a member of the Thrawne family to continue the centuries long rivalry between the Allen and Thrawne family.   Thrawne programmed Inertia to hate the Allens and Bart Allen in particular, creating a “Reverse-Impulse” who has repeated plagued Bart and his friends for years.  Inertia tricked the Rogues into helping him kill Bart Allen (who had become the Flash during Wally West’s disappearance).  The Rogues later got their revenge against Inertia, killing him during Final Crisis. 

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:  Moderate.  If Bart Allen appears on The Flash, Inertia would be a good antagonist.

Iris and Jai West

Iris and Jai are the twin children of Wally and Iris West.  Like other children born with speed powers, both Iris and Jai rapidly aged as babies.  However, Linda and Wally taught the children how to control their powers, although both were prone to occasional bouts of aging.  Both Iris and Jai manipulated the Speed Force in different ways: Jai can focus the Speed Force into his muscles, causing him to become superstrong, while Iris can phase through objects.  During Flash: Rebirth, Iris forcibly disconnects her twin brother from the Speed Force to spare him from crippling pain caused by disruptions in the mystical energy force.  After the Speed Force returns to normal, Iris becomes the new Impulse.

Likelihood of Appearing on The Flash:   Low.  We just found out Wally West existed.  We’ve got a ways to go before he can have kids.