James Gunn’s reboot of DC restarts with The Flash and ironically, the Scarlet Speedster’s solo movie has more to offer than successfully restarting the franchise.
Based on Flashpoint comics, The Flash introduces Barry Allen’s ability to travel back in time in an attempt to save his parents’ lives. But how exactly does Flash time travel?
WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for The Flash, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Can The Flash Canonically Time Travel?
The Flash first exposed his time traveling ability in the original DC comics, specifically in a 1961 issue where he was introduced to the Cosmic Treadmill. This treadmill was used to travel through time.
Surprisingly, the first time this was mentioned, the time traveling didn’t occur based on Barry’s abilities alone, but the treadmill could allow time travel to those who could use super-speed.
In the CW’s series The Flash, Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen could time travel using time vehicles such as the Time-Sphere or Time-Ship. Although the Arrowverse is a different story from the DCEU, this tells us Flash can canonically time travel.
Now, you might be thinking, does Barry’s time traveling skill allow him to jump through multiverses, as well?
The answer is yes, it does, which makes him an even more formidable opponent and crucial in changing the course of history, much like how he changed it in 2021’s Justice League, as well as in 2023’s The Flash.
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How Does The Flash Time Travel?
It’s all scientific, really. Barry Allen was struck by lightning through the chemicals in the lab, granting him super speed as well as the ability to strike enemies with lightning charge emulating from his body.
Now, it’s a given that no one could outrun The Flash and while he does have limitations such as the number of calories he must consume per day to regain and retain his strength, his super speed also provided a hidden power to time travel.
In The Flash (2023), while Barry was recalling the time they found their mother dead in the kitchen, stabbed in the chest, he was seeking justice. Justice for his mother and for his father, who was found ‘guilty’ behind the death.
Upon this journey of finding whose fault is it that caused the chaos in his family’s life, he ran through the city, through the bridge, and all of a sudden, a flaming ball of lightning formed around his body.
The DC movie suggested that Barry sped so much, he became faster than the power of light, which led him to travel back in time. At his first accidental attempt, he managed to return to what had happened that morning.
It was at that moment he knew his capability, he could even control which realities he could choose from within the ball of lightning that formed around him like a force field.
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Is The Flash The First Time Barry Time Traveled?
No, the 2023 movie is not the first time we see Barry time travel. In fact, in the DCEU, we first see this ability in 2021’s Justice League.
At the time, Barry was a much younger hero. He was just starting and he could barely heal himself fast enough as he could now in his solo movie.
While Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg were trying to stop the extradimensional New God Steppenwolf, Flash was in a trial and error mode running faster than the speed of light.
He used his father to motivate himself in literally overcoming his limitations. However, the Justice League movie showed it differently.
While Barry’s running in The Flash (2023) caused a ball of lightning casted around him as a force field, Barry’s time traveling in Justice League showed a literal progression of how he outran light.
In doing so, he was able to reverse the death of his comrades, just a few seconds before he succeeded in time traveling on his own.
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