With Eclipso’s defeat comes the question of how the Flash was the only one who could stop him. The answer? God.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #779, on sale now from DC Comics.
The Flash is a very scientific superhero. His powers revolve around the fictional Speed Force, many of his villains use technology to achieve their goals and, currently, he has a job working at Mister Terrific’s state-of-the-art lab. That made it all the more intriguing when his latest adventure was a team-up with the Justice League Dark. During this fight against the villain Eclipso, it was revealed Wally West was immune to the foe’s mind-control abilities. There were a number of theories as to why that was, such as his transformative Speed Force journey. However, the truth was even more bizarre.
When Eclipso was defeated, Wally West was greeted by the Spectre in The Flash #779, by Jeremy Adams, Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan, Brent Peeples, Jeremiah Skipper, Peter Pantazis, Jeremy Cox and Rob Leigh. Wally thought that God’s Spirit of Vengeance was simply there to collect the artifact in which Eclipso was trapped, the Glaive. However, he soon learned there was another reason for the Spectre’s visit.
God has been paying close attention to The Flash’s latest adventure. Not just that, he had a hand in it. The real reason why Wally was immune to Eclipso’s control? God was protecting him. It had nothing to do with the Speed Force or his more positive zen attitude; it was literally divine intervention.
In the DC Universe, the Judeo-Christian God is known as “the Presence,” who debuted in 1940’s More Fun Comics #52, in a story by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Bernard Bailey. As the creator of the Council of Eternity, and possibly even the New Gods of New Genesis, this deity has limitless power.
It’s not only the Judeo-Christian God that’s canon in DC Comics — every religion is. There are so many recognized deities that they have their own realm of existence, the Sphere of the Gods. After her death in Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wonder Woman ascended there and traveled to such worlds as Valhalla and Olympus, on her quest home. However, the Presence is much more mysterious than anything Wonder Woman encountered.
It’s pretty easy for God (or the Presence) to make Wally immune to Eclipso’s abilities, no matter how much the villain amplified them. With power over all creation, performing such an act with little explanation (for example, time travel or Speed Force shenanigans) is completely normal. However, God’s role in this story didn’t stop there. When The Flash asked for help with his son’s current power troubles, the Spectre revealed that “God’s plan” is all-encompassing, and the solution was already given to the speedster before this adventure began.
Wally’s Speed Force quest from earlier issues gave him a new ability, a Speed Force Surge. As it turned out, that was what The Flash needed to stabilize his son’s powers. It’s kind of bizarre to see The Flash’s sci-fi adventures taken in this direction, with everything, including Jai’s returning powers, planned out by God. It just goes to show that there’s room for magic and religion in science fiction, even if the scientists in the story don’t fully understand it.
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