Wally West made his debut on The Flash season 2, episode 9, “Running to Stand Still.” We look at his comic book history for hints of his future on the show.
On The Flash, Wally is the child of Joe and Francine West, though Joe didn’t know about his existence. Francine was pregnant when she disappeared from Central City when Iris was young, and she didn’t reveal that to her family. That makes him Iris’ younger brother.
In the DC Comics
Wally is Iris’ nephew. The Wests have three children in the comics, and Wally was the son of Iris’ brother, Rudy. He first appeared as Kid Flash in 1959’s The Flash #110, and he would eventually become the third Flash (after Jay Garrick and Barry Allen).
As a child
Wally idolized The Flash. One summer, Iris invited Wally to stay with her in Central City. She introduced him to Barry, who offered to introduce him to The Flash. As The Flash, Barry brought Wally to his lab and told him about how he’d gotten his powers. Just then, a bolt of lightning hit the chemicals in the lab and bathed Wally in the chemicals, granting him the same powers as Barry. Barry revealed his identity to him, and Wally went on to become Barry’s sidekick, Kid Flash.
Besides being The Flash’s sidekick, Wally was also a founding member of the Teen Titans. However, he would eventually leave the team to focus on school. He would continue working as Kid Flash sporadically.
As an adult
After the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, when Barry sacrificed himself, Wally became The Flash. However, his speeds only just exceeded the speed of sound (rather than light). He had a psychological block in which he subconsciously limited his speed so he wouldn’t replace Barry. He would eventually overcome this block, however, and even gain some powers that Barry never had, such as lending and taking speed.
Wally also dates and later marries reporter Linda Park. Together, they have twins: Iris and Jai West.
On ‘The Flash’
What can we expect from the character, played by Keiynan Lonsdale, on the series?
Joe and Iris
“One thing I can say is Wally’s really into drag racing, which is not the ideal thing when your father is a detective and your sister’s a reporter,” Lonsdale tells Variety.
Source
He says of Iris, “[S]he’s a fierce character so she’s pretty concerned over that, which kind of shows that she’s accepting him as a brother, really. It shows that the love is there, from both sides. From all sides, I think the love is there, but it goes to show that a lot more goes into creating a family than blood and love. It’s what you have to go through together.”
Lonsdale adds that Wally’s “walls are up pretty high. He’s quite defensive about who he is, what he does, and he doesn’t want a lot of those things to change, and doesn’t really believe that those things should be changed by newcomers in his life.
“Just because Joe is his dad, just because Iris is his big sister, doesn’t mean that he feels like they can control him in any way. So I think that’s going to be a pretty difficult dynamic for them to all overcome, but eventually, that will bring everyone together.”
Relationship with Barry
Lonsdale also previews that there is going to be some sibling rivalry with Barry, at least on Wally’s end. “Barry’s a good guy, and they’re all good people, but I think that that can sometimes be frustrating for Wally, because he’s trying to find his place in this family, but his place is almost already filled by this other son that Joe has,” he explains.
“So that’s another family member that Wally’s kind of forced to have, but Barry isn’t his blood, you know? And because Barry is such a nice guy, and a good guy, that can be even more frustrating for Wally. He doesn’t want to let a lot of people in… so that creates this kind of cool little sibling rivalry, in a sense.”
Wally’s personality
Lonsdale says Wally “is serious and he is reserved and defensive and he has an attitude, but at the same time, he can switch things up with his humor, which is sometimes kind of dry.” While other incarnations of Wally have been more light-hearted, “we’re dealing with these realistic, tough storylines with family” on The Flash, including the fact that Wally’s mother is dying.
So, “that that could definitely be what comes out of it in the future,” but for now, Wally “is on the more serious side, although he’s still Wally, so there’s time for a joke, even if it’s not maybe the nicest timing.”
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.
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