10 Grim Realities Of Superhero Origins

4. The Flash Is Dead And/Or Disfigured

The origin story: People in comic books should just stay away from science. Barry Allen was a forensic scientist for the Central City Police Department, with a reputation for being very slow, deliberate, and frequently late, much to the frustration of his long-suffering fiancee Iris West. Which made it rather ironic when, stressed out and hurrying to leave the lab, he was doused in a cabinet's worth of chemicals after they were struck by lightning.

That's not the ironic part, FYI, that came next - the specific mix of substances gave Barry the ability run extremely fast (with reflexes to match). With a red, lightning-bolt emblazoned costume inspired by comic book character Captain Marvel and a name pilfered from another old superhero, Barry becomes The Flash, super speedy hero of Central City!

The grim reality: Do you know what the average shelf of a forensic scientist in the sixties look like? It'll all have been conical flasks full of acids, alkalis and bases. Those are not things you want spilled on you. That's why the acid bottles always have those bright yellow warning stickers with the skulls on ie if you poor this on your head it'll melt all your skin off and you'll just be a skull. Probably. And it's being struck by lightning, which means half of it's on fire.

So Barry Allen wouldn't have been fine and gotten some sweet superpowers out of the deal, he'd been horribly burned all over his body and possibly had a load of his skin melted by acid. If he actually survives that he'd have to have a load of skin grafts and thus be disfigured for the rest of his life. And going nowhere fast, either.