If his name does not make it clear enough, The Flash is a superhero who can outrun just about any enemy (or even friend) he has made in the DC Universe. The question is, how many miles does he have on some of the most threatening Marvel villains?
The alter ego of Barry Allen (or Jay Garrick or Wally West - whomever you would prefer) is a hero, not only extraordinarily fast, but capable of generating electricity, healing at inhuman rates, and even inter-dimensional travel, thanks to a miraculously non-fatal bolt of lightning which struck him as a young man. Those are powers that certainly come in handy against DC villains, but may not be enough for some baddies from that other popular comic book universe.
So, who from Marvel could give The Flash his darkest day yet? I have five villains in mind who have what it takes to slow down the fastest man alive.
Loki
Without his superhuman abilities, Barry Allen is still adept in skills that have even impressed Batman, including forensic pathology, veritable hand-to-hand combat, and even mastery in disguise. The latter of those previously mentioned abilities is a speciality that is easily outweighed by Loki.
Norse mythology’s “God of Mischief” and the adoptive brother of Thor has a tendency for trickery that has been of great use to him against his many foes, from altering his own appearance to projecting illusions that effortlessly catch people off guard, but even more useful in that assembly are his abilities in hypnosis, invisibility, and even the creation of force fields with which he can surround himself or anything else of his choosing. So, if The Flash is able to see through one of Loki’s disguises, he can instead make himself unable to be seen at all, making “Speedy” unable to tell when Loki will strike a force field around him and trap him before he could even run away.
Kang The Conqueror
The Flash has been known to be able to travel at speeds so fast that he can even travel through time. In fact, he once discovered that he can even accelerate the flow of time, like a Fast Forward button for life. Yet, there is a Marvel villain who has powers linked to time that outweigh Barry Allen.
Nathaniel Richards was an ordinary human and genius-level scholar of the 31st century who discovered a technology created by Victor Von Doom which allowed him, not just the ability to travel through time, but a means to control it. He would use this valuable equipment to conquer a war-torn Earth beyond his time, which led to the reinvention of himself as Kang. If Kang can manipulate time itself (not merely speeding up, but also slowing it down, moving it forward, or dialing it backward) The Flash may have an unusually hard time keeping up with him.
Speed Demon
Every villain in the DC Universe who has faced off against The Flash (with a few particular exceptions) has been struggling to answer the question of how does one keep up with the fastest man on Earth? Marvel has one such baddie who managed to figure out a solution to that very problem.
Brilliant chemist James Sanders, with help from the Grandmaster, developed a serum that granted him the ability to travel superhumanly fast, only he decided against the choice to use his powers for good and turned to a life of crime, during which he would find a frequent nemesis in Spider-Man. The proof that The Flash could be given a run for his money by this evildoer is in his name alone, Speed Demon. However, in addition to being fast, Sanders, like Flash, also has enhanced durability, extremely competent reflexes and agility, a quick healing factor, and a number of martial arts moves that prove deadly when combined with his speed.
Korvac
There is another infamous Marvel villain who has the means to be as fast as The Flash. In fact, he could also fly like Superman, or change his appearance like the Martian Manhunter, crawl walls like Spider-Man, or any other ability known to man if he wanted to. For Korvac, all it takes is the push of a button.
Formerly a human computer technician from an alternate version of Earth, Michael Korvac joined forces an evil alien race that combined his upper body with a computer that made him into a quasi-cybernetic organism that can download powers belonging to various beings into his system, kind of like a living greatest hits of the universe’s most threatening abilities. Of course, if being able to run as fast as Flash is still not enough to slow him down, one power that Korvac was able to get ahold of was the Power Cosmic, which turns the wielder into a god-like being of unstoppable means. So, in other words, the speedster is toast.
Galactus
The Flash has been able to hold his own against a “god-like” being or two. However, the circumstances are quite different when you are dealing with an actual god. One of the most famous baddies in the history Marvel, Galactus, is the oldest living entity known to the universe and a crucial element to its creation once his former self became the last survivor of what had previously existed.
Now, it is not impossible to stop Galactus, whom fans have theorized to be the next big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the likes of Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four have proven. Yet, those heroes either have a biological connection to the cosmos or work best as a team, which The Flash might need both of if he intends to win against this planet devouring enemy. To put it into a better perspective, the abilities of every villain I have already mentioned in this list are powers that Galactus, not only possesses himself, but is better at.
What do you think? Could these five Marvel villains be the end of The Flash, or do you think I should slow down before I make such quick judgement? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for more information and news regarding DC’s fastest hero here on CinemaBlend.
