The Flash Season 3: 10 Things You Need To Know About Kid Flash

9. History Repeated

The Flash Wally West Kid Flash
DC Comics

In comic book lore, Wally West actually got his superpowers in the exact same way as Barry Allen.

With Wally having been a huge fan of The Flash, and with Barry dating Wally’s aunt Iris at the time, the Sultan of Speed sought to earn some brownie points. How better to impress your other half than to introduce her nephew to his hero?

Arranging for Wally to meet The Flash, Barry donned his famed outfit and had a chat with his #1 fan. Being the curious sort, the young West asked his idol how exactly he got his superpowers. As Barry explained that a batch of lightning hit a select group of chemicals that he was stood near (as per the original comic book origin of Barry), wouldn’t you know it, but comic book coincidence was just around the corner and ready to strike.

Yes, as The Flash explained this, noting that Wally just so happened to be stood in front of the exact same chemicals, a lightning bolt struck the chemicals and gave Wally West his own superspeed.

Where the TV show is concerned, it appears that Barry and Wally have received their powers in the same way as each other once more. We know that Barry was given superspeed following the initial particle accelerator explosion. It’s not been confirmed, but Wally was caught up in the chemically-driven blast of the second particle accelerator explosion, with this likely to be the reason that he’ll have his own superpowers when Season 3 arrives later this year.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.