The Flash: 19 Easter Eggs And References You Have To See

16. The Origin Story

The Flash pilot made a handful of necessary changes from the character's comic book incarnation €“ necessary because sometimes, what works on the page doesn't really work on the screen. That's why the skintight red spandex costume has been swapped out for a somewhat more realistic (and less bright) outfit, why Barry was made a little younger, and why it seems that all of the metahuman shenanigans that'll be going on throughout this first season are all inextricably tied to the particle accelerator accident that gave Mr Allen his powers. In the DC Comics, there's already a bunch of supervillains running around for him to deal with; in the TV universe, there's not really a precedent for that yet. Outside of Starling City, anyway. What's surprising is that, whilst it seems most of the bad guys will have their abilities rooted in the same accident, the Flash's origin story has been relatively untouched from the comic books. Doubly surprising when you consider that story was written in the Silver Age of comics, a time not known for its scientific accuracy or really any logical sense. And yet, just like in the comics, Barry Allen is a crime scene investigator who ends up becoming future fast after getting struck by lightning, whilst hanging out in his lab full of hazardous chemicals. The source of the storm may have been different, and the chemicals less integral, but besides that? It's a rather faithful adaptation.