Many swift and powerful speedsters have been adapted in DC Universe movies and TV shows. In DC Comics lore, Central City forensic scientist Barry Allen gains the power of super-speed after being soaked by chemicals that had been struck by lightning. This also allows Barry to tap into the Speed Force, which not only fuels his super-speed, but also empowers him with other abilities like time and multiverse travel. Barry uses his super-speed to become The Flash, but he is far from the only speedster in existence.
Barry’s adventures have been adapted to both movies and television, with John Wesley Shipp, Grant Gustin, and Ezra Miller, and more portraying the Scarlet Speedster. Additionally, other heroic and villainous speedsters have also appeared on the big and small screens. Here are the 10 fastest speedsters seen in DC movies and TV shows.
10 Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale)
On The Flash, Iris West’s brother Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) becomes one of the many speedsters on the show, taking on the title of Kid Flash. As a young, up-and-coming speedster on The Flash, Wally takes a little more training to get used to his super-speed than Barry. Nonetheless, he proves to be a great ally to Barry, his speed being enough to help Barry put out a fire in a burning building in one instance. Wally also brings his super-speeding heroics to Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.
9 Savitar (Grant Gustin)
One of the darkest villains to ever appear on The Flash, Savitar is a speedster from an alternate timeline portrayed by Grant Gustin, with Tobin Bell of Saw fame providing his voice. Savitar has the same command over his super-speed as Barry does, and is far more ruthless in how he uses it. Savitar also shows the great extent of his control over his speed when he overwhelms Barry and drags him by one arm through the Speed Force during a confrontation, easily maintaining his forward velocity while doing so. Because of this, Barry Allen knows full well that Savitar is a speedster who can challenge Barry and most other allies.
8 Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp)
The Flash TV series pulls a double-whammy of DC legacy cast, with John Wesley Shipp of the early ’90s Flash series not only playing Barry Allen’s father Henry, but also The Flash of another Earth, Jay Garrick. On The Flash, Jay Garrick is an invaluable guide to Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen. Jay Garrick’s super-speed empowers him with such abilities as vibrational powers that allow him to cut through metal, and catching all the bullets fired by the Trickster (Mark Hamill) in his helmet, showing him to be one of the fastest speedsters in DC movies and television.
7 Godspeed (Karan Oberoi)
One of the most mysterious villains on The Flash, Godspeed is initially voiced by B.D. Wong and portrayed by Karan Oberoi, and is a truly frightening adversary for any speedster to deal with. Godspeed lives up to his name as a speedster, with Barry just barely able to keep ahead of with him in their chase in the season six episode “Pay the Piper.” Godspeed’s powers also include draining speed from other speedsters, which Barry narrowly avoids in the aforementioned episode due to his then-severed connection to the Speed Force. In all, Godspeed (and the various Godspeed drones) can either outrun or keep up with almost any other speedster.
6 Hunter Zolomon A.K.A. Zoom (Teddy Sears)
Another of The Flash‘s darker villains, Hunter Zolomon is played by Teddy Sears, with Tony Todd voicing the character. Using his speed to conquer Earth-2, Zoom arrives on Earth-1 as Barry’s newest foe in The Flash season two. Already a powerful speedster, Zoom is obsessed with taking his speed to its absolute peak with his “Velocity” drug. Zoom even manages to temporarily siphon Barry Allen’s speed from him and runs with The Flash’s level of super-speed. While Barry Allen is able to thwart his plans and get his speed back, Zoom is nonetheless a speedster who can keep even Barry Allen on his toes.
5 Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner)
The first metahuman hero introduced on Smallville aside from Clark Kent, Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner) is a pickpocket carrying fake I.D.s with the names Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West. Bart needs to be whipped into shape, and his encounter with Clark Kent (Tom Welling) does just that. Though Clark’s Kryptonian super-speed is one of his signature powers on Smallville, Bart easily outruns the future Man of Steel as he departs to find other metahumans to “form a club or a league or something.” Bart later returns in Smallville season six as a founding member of the Justice League, taking on the name of Impulse, with Bart proving himself Smallville‘s perfect speedster.
4 Eobard Thawne A.K.A. The Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher & Tom Cavanagh)
Barry Allen’s arch-nemesis, Eobard Thawne a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, initially takes on the appearance of STAR Labs scientist Harrison Wells, with Tom Cavanagh playing the numerous versions of Wells on The Flash, and Matt Letscher playing Thawne in his true form. Combined with his brilliant mind, Thawne also uses his super-speed to time-travel into the past and murder Barry’s mother Nora Allen, with the flashback showing him to be fast enough to create a real challenge for Barry to keep up with. In all of DC lore, Eobard Thawne is faster than almost any other speedster, and is Barry Allen’s greatest villainous rival at wielding the power of the Speed Force.
3 Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp)
Barry Allen made his live-action debut with The Flash TV series in 1990, and John Wesley Shipp’s Scarlet Speedster is a shown to be lightning bolt of a metahuman. Despite The Flash‘s single-season run, Shipp’s Barry Allen would later return via the Arrowverse’s multiverse crossovers Elseworlds and Crisis On Infinite Earths, fighting alongside his fellow speedsters. The latter show’s Shipp’s Barry being held captive by the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), powering his machine intended to wipe out the multiverse, but Barry uses his super-speed to destroy the machine. With Barry’s immense super-speed being the salvation of the entire multiverse, his place on the list is deservedly high.
2 Barry Allen – (Grant Gustin)
The Arrowverse’s second major pillar, Barry Allen, is introduced in season two of Arrow, gaining his powers of super-speed and becoming The Flash. Though there have been times when Barry has been de-powered, his creation of an artificial Speed Force enables him to keep running as fast as ever. As the longest running Flash in any form of live-action media, Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen is shown truly mastering his speed. At full speed, Barry can unravel tornados by running in the opposite direction, criss-cross Central City in the blink of an eye, and zoom across great distances faster than virtually any other speedster on The Flash.
1 Barry Allen – (Ezra Miller)
First introduced delivering a warning from the future in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice League, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen is a speedster with tremendous power. Barry is recruited into the Justice League by Batman (Ben Affleck) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, with Barry traveling “far beyond the speed of light” to reverse time and prevent the Unity of the Mother Boxes. Barry’s solo movie The Flash takes his super-speed to its utmost with Barry’s powers of time-travel and exploring the multiverse. There have been many blindingly fast speedsters in DC movies and TV shows, but without a doubt, Ezra Miller’s Flash is truly The Fastest Man Alive.
