Ace West

For other uses of Wally West, see Wally West (disambiguation).

Wally West II
Wally West II, the fourth Kid Flash in the DC Rebirth era. Art by Jim Lee.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Flash Annual Vol.4 #3 (June 2014)
Created by	Van Jensen Robert Venditti Brett Booth (based on Wally West by John Broome and Carmine Infantino)
In-story information
Full name	Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West II
Team affiliations	Teen Titans Titans East
Partnerships	Barry Allen Wally West Deathstroke
Abilities	Super speed Superhumanly fast reflexes Augmented by the extra-dimensional Speed Force Frictionless aura

Wally West II is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Wally West, as part of DC's The New 52 relaunch, the comic DC Rebirth #1 later established that he is in fact a new character of the same name (Wally's cousin).

Publication history

The "reintroduction" of this Wally West to DC Comics following its 2011 The New 52 reboot, which removed Wally West from continuity, was first announced in January 2014. Originally conceived of as a biracial reinterpretation of the classic Wally West character, Wally is stated in his introductory comics and creators as being the son of Iris West's brother Rudy, as in pre-New 52 stories. However, the original interpretation of Wally West, having been the starring character in the Flash for many years, was still missed by DC's fans, and so the company decided to bring the original Wally back into continuity in Geoff Johns DC Rebirth #1 (2016). Rebirth retroactively established that the new Wally's father was not Rudy, as previously stated; he was in fact the son of Iris's other brother, the recently introduced Daniel West (also the latest incarnation of Reverse-Flash).

Wally II first appears in Flash Annual 3 (2014) in a story set twenty years in the future, when a jaded, older Flash (Barry Allen) reads about Wally's funeral and vows to change history. Tying in with the ongoing story The New 52: Futures End, the story The Flash: Futures End #1 depicts an encounter between Barry of five years in the future (when Wally II is supposed to die) and the Barry of 20 years in the future, who is out to prevent it. In the course of the story, Wally ends up learning that Barry is the Flash and absorbs part of the Speed Force — the source of the Flash's abilities — during the battle between Barry and his future counterpart. He becomes a speedster but his hero career is short lived; he sacrifices himself to fix a wound in the speed force. Due to the effects of time travel however, this has implications for Wally II earlier in his history. Around the same time, in the present-day narrative of The Flash, Barry meets Wally II for the first time through Iris. Wally is struck by lightning and acquires super speed abilities; an apparition of his future self explains that, as a consequence of how his future self died repairing the Speed Force, all the power within him was able to travel back in time and use Wally's lightning accident as a catalyst. Wally's first act as a speedster is to use his powers to protect a classmate from a bully, using the same artistic elements as Professor Zoom's powers.

DC Rebirth #1, part of a company-wide event of the same name, marked DC's attempts to restore much of what it lost in the New 52 reboot, both in tone and in the stories of its characters. It features the original Wally West watching his younger cousin, Wally II, from outside of time, proud and amazed that he too has become a speedster, and reflecting on how they are both named for the same grandfather. The Flash Wally is brought back to reality by Barry, who remembers him for the first time since the reboot, meaning two Wallys now exist in the DC Universe. Teen Titans Rebirth #1, shows Wally II joining the Teen Titans superhero team as Kid Flash.

He meets the Flash Wally when assisting Barry in dealing with a bridge accident, although the older Wally doesn't explicitly introduce himself to his cousin, simply identifying himself as an ally of Barry, although Wally II accepts the older one after they work together to save Barry from a temporary infusion of Speed Force energy.

Alternate versions

"Futures End"

In The Flash: Futures End #1, the Flash from 20 Years in the Future is able to prevent Wally's death by killing Daniel West. After the Future Flash cripples his younger self in their fight and disappears into the past, Barry finds that Wally has been imbued with the Speed Force. He makes Wally promise to stop his future self and Wally dons a pink and red Flash suit, becoming the new Flash, and trains for years to travel back and stop the Future Flash.

In Flash Vol 4 #35, Wally arrives to see the Future Flash fight the present Flash. Wally is badly injured when he shields the younger Flash from high-speed rocks that the Future Flash flung. Wally absorbs the excess Speed Force energy that is tearing apart the present Flash and tells him to not give up and that he only learned to be a hero because of him. Wally dies and releases a blast of Speed Force energy that closes the rupture but unintentionally traps the present Flash in the Speed Force.

In other media

Television

• Greg Berlanti (co-creator and executive producer of the 2014 reboot of The Flash) revealed that elements of Wally West would be featured in the second season of that series. It was later confirmed that West will appear in Season 2, portrayed by Keiynan Lonsdale. He is an amalgamation of Wally West and Wally West II. This version, who is African-American like the New 52 version, is the long lost brother of Iris West, who she wanted to keep secret from her father.