One of the most persistent villains in the DC Villains’ roster, the Reverse Flash is the anti-thesis and arch nemesis of the Flash. For decades, Eobard Thawne has tried to destroy Barry Allen and the Flash’s legacy. He has failed every time. Looks like he has finally succeeded! Ladies and gentlemen, the Reverse Flash becomes DC’s New Flash, assuming the role of the Scarlet Speedster in Flash #758.
We warn you. There are way too many Flash #758 SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Reverse Flash has moved his chess pieces across the board. He has decided to form his own Reverse Flash Family just like the Flash Family. That piece of news became public in The Flash #755. But that is not even the greatest element of his plan. Reverse Flash gathered a team of career super villains from the Flash’s Rogues Gallery and formed the Legion of Zoom. That is just a means to an end for the next part of his plan. The Reverse Flash intends to execute his master plan. He wants to become the new Flash.
The Legion of Zoom consists of some really dreadful and dangerous Flash foes. It has Captain Cold, the Turtle, the Trickster, and Gorilla Grodd. All of the villains were hand-picked by the Reverse Flash and were taken out of different timelines. Reverse Flash promised them that if they agree to work under him, the Flash will never be an obstacle for them again. The Reverse Flash also promised the Legion of Zoom critical data and information regarding the future which only he possesses. Post a massive attack by the Legion, the Flash decided that in order to defeat Reverse Flash, he needs to act and think just like him to stay ahead.
You May Also Like: Dark Knight: Joker Was Ex-Military Intelligence Officer
So the Flash decided to first evacuate his close friends and family to safety. The Reverse Flash still caught up to the Flash. Barry had recently taken the help of Reverse Flash after he traveled back in time to the past and pulled him out of the time stream while he was trying to kill Barry Allen’s mother. The Flash and the Reverse Flash worked together to defeat the super villain known as Paradox. The Flash revisits his old home where he finds the legion waiting for him, having had set up an ambush to lure him there.
The Flash encounters two new members of the Legion during the ambush there in his home. The Tornado Twins – Don and dawn are now helping the Legion of Zoom take down the Flash. The Twins are Barry’s children from the future who have grown to hate their father and are now hell-bent on killing him. The Flash makes it a very tough battle but the Legion still manages to beat him to a pulp. Each member takes turns beating him and prepping the Scarlet Speedster for the next part of the Reverse Flash’s plan.
The Reverse Flash always idolized Barry Allen. He was a fan of the Flash back in his own future timeline. He traveled back to the past with the hopes of meeting his hero. It is after coming to the past that he has a revelation that he was destined to be the Reverse Flash – the Flash’s greatest enemy. The twist of fate drive the Reverse Flash into a path of villainy and evil. Ever since, Eobard Thawne has tried to destroy the Flash and take over as the New Flash.
Eobard Thawne finally manages to replace Barry Allen. How does he do it though? It is in this issue that we see the Reverse Flash use a trick right out of the Flash’s bag. The Flash is known to use the Speed Force to vibrate his body in certain frequencies. This allows him to phase through objects. If used correctly, it could even grant Barry Allen the ability to vibrate his way through the dimensional membrane of the universe and land in parallel earths. There have been many novel uses of the technique we have seen in multiple new and old issues of the Flash. But the way Eobard Thawne has used it is unlike anything ever seen in the history of the DC Universe.
Related: The Only DC Hero Who Can Take Down the Justice League
Eobard Thawne uses the Negative Speed Force Energy running in his veins to vibrate him-self on the same frequency as the Flash’s body. Reverse Flash’s plan is to phase into the Flash’s body. But he does not want to phase through. Eobard Thawne waited for the perfect moment when Barry Allen is the most vulnerable and then vibrated himself to such an extent that he literally fused with the Flash’s molecules.
It is not new for comic book fans to see a superhero’s arch-nemesis take over his body. In Marvel Comics, Doctor Octopus used his mind swapping technology to take over Peter Parker’s body and become the ‘Superior Spider-Man’. On a similar fashion, the Reverse Flash has used his phasing ability to take over Barry Allen’s body. What happens next is completely unpredictable.
Also Read: Flashpoint To Be First Superhero Movie With No Super Villain
The Reverse Flash has shown to us that nobody could ever anticipate his strategy. He claimed that he is going to get his own Reverse Flash Family. We all believed that by a Reverse Flash Family, he meant the newly formed Legion of Zoom. What he actually meant was that the Reverse Flash was going to take over the Flash’s body and slowly and steadily, corrupt the Flash Family from the inside, turning the renowned and respected speedsters into harbingers of the Negative Speed Force.
It is not known for how long the Reverse Flash could keep himself within the Flash’s body and maintain control over Allen’s mind. Sooner or later, the Flash will find the mental strength needed to kick him out. But the question is the level of damage the Reverse Flash could now do considering he can now pulls the strings of the Flash from behind the curtains, metaphorically and quite literally speaking.
The answers are not going to come soon. Guess we all would have to wait until the next issue of The Flash comes out. What else does the Reverse Flash have in store for the Flash?
