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

3. He Became The Flash

The Flash Wally West Kid Flash
DC Comics

Surely you had to see this one coming, right?

Over the years, many a superhero sidekick have either stepped up to become their own hero (see: Dick Grayson as Nightwing) or even taken on the mantle of their mentor (err, see: Dick Grayson as Batman). Wally West is no different, and yes, that means he eventually got an upgrade from Kid Flash to simply The Flash.

During the famed Crisis on Infinite Earths story, it actually came down to Barry Allen to save the entire existence of the universe. No biggie, yeah? Not if you’re The Flash, it’s not.

Ever the hero, Barry of course saved the day, putting a stop to the Anti-Monitor’s plan but sadly sacrificing his own life in the process. That meant that The Flash was no more (insert sad face).

But for every cloud comes a silver lining, and in the aftermath of this Crisis, it was revealed that Wally West’s body was no longer getting damaged by his superspeed. In fact, Wally using his powers was actually causing his body to heal and make him stronger. As such, the retired Kid Flash stepped out of the shadows and took on the mantle of The Flash in order to honour his fallen mentor.

This was a huge moment for DC and for comics as a whole, and Wally as The Flash actually stuck for a long period of time as Barry Allen would remain dead for a whopping 23 years. In comic book terms, that’s pretty much as close to permanent as you can get!

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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.