Unplanned, the Smallville series introduced a version of the Flash ahead of its time, however it wasted the character’s potential.
Recently, the columnist Niall Gray, of the Screen Rant medium, recalled how the Smallville series presented different versions of the DC characters, and that its Flash, Bart Allen, had an interesting story that was not properly explored.
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Says Gray: “By telling a story that takes place as part of a larger universe, Smallville helped shape modern superhero movies, laying the groundwork for shared cinematic universes. To that end, Smallville not only showed Clark becoming Superman, but also showed the formation of a first Justice League. The team consisted of Clark, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Victor Stone/Cyborg, and Bart Allen/Impulse.
While the series mostly drew on characters from DC’s Silver Age, the Flash was cast as Bart Allen, the character known as Impulse.
Who is Impulse?
Created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo for 1994’s Flash #91, Bart Allen was introduced under the code name Impulse, though he later acquired the designations Kid Flash and The Flash. Bart hailed from the 30th century, and was the son of Meloni Thawne and Don Allen. Bart is a descendant of Barry Allen and Iris West. However, in Smallville it is not like that.
Gray recalls that in the fifth episode of Smallville’s fourth season, Run, Clark tracks Bart to a hotel room, “where he discovers a series of fake IDs bearing the names of Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen, obvious references.” to the three people who assumed the Flash identity before Bart. It is also made clear that the Smallville Flash is Bart Allen, but this makes using those particular names as aliases a curious choice. It implies that Bart knows the previous Flashes.”
In a later episode, through a flashback there is a glimpse of Jay Garrick. However, the existence of Wally West and Barry Allen, and what their relationship with Bart might be, is never made clear. With Bart being the official Flash of the world of Smaillville, but by suggesting the existence of the other Flashes, the series had before it the possibility of telling a bigger story about the speed force and the destiny of its possessors, or to open the door to a Multiverse, which would have anticipated the modern continuity of DC movies and series. However, Smaillville didn’t flesh out the Flash story and just gave us the troublesome Impulse.
Source: ScreenRant
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