The Flash Is Finally Doing A Comic Accurate Version Of Season 3’s Savitar

Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for The Flash, season 6, episode 18, “Pay The Piper.”

The Flash seems to be setting up a comics-accurate version of the classic villain Savitar for season 7. The show previously introduced a villain called Savitar during season 3, but he had nothing in common with the original character apart from being an evil speedster.

Savitar first appeared in The Flash #108 in December 1995, though several issues would pass before his origins were revealed. Savitar had been a test-pilot for an unnamed third world nation at the height of the Cold War, whose supersonic jet was struck by lightning while he was breaking the sound barrier. This gave him a connection to the Speed Force, just like Barry Allen, and he took the name of the Hindu god of all which is mobile. Savitar devoted his life to studying the Speed Force, developing powers which no other speedster had, such as draining the kinetic energy from objects in motion to boost his own velocity. In time he attracted followers, with whom Savitar shared his power even as he drained the Speed Force from those speedsters who would not acknowledge his supremacy.

The penultimate episode of The Flash Season 6, “Pay The Piper,” seemed to establish that the character of Godspeed was connected to a similar figure as the comic books’ Savitar. Earlier in the season, it was revealed that Team Flash had encountered four speedsters who wore the costume of Godspeed, but who had no intelligence of their own and spoke in electronic beeps. A fifth Godspeed appeared in “Pay The Piper,” who made reference to a group that wanted The Flash’s powers, saying “We deserve your speed.” He also spoke of having been sent after Barry Allen by one who wished to attain ultimate velocity. Couple this with Godspeed displaying a power no other speedster had utilized before, and the comparison to the original version of Savitar seems clear.

While The Flash introduced a character called Savitar as the chief villain of season 3, all he shared with the comic book character was his name and delusions of grandeur. Dubbing himself “The God of Speed,” this Savitar was ultimately revealed to be a time remnant of Barry Allen from an alternate future where the real Barry Allen had become trapped in the Speed Force following his final battle with Zoom. Shunned and rejected by Team Flash, this Barry Allen devoted himself to making his past self suffer as he had, ultimately securing his own dark future by killing Iris West.

While it isn’t clear if Godspeed is merely connected to a character like the comic book version of’ Savitar, or if Savitar might be one of Team Flash’s old enemies who was brought back to life by Crisis on Infinite Earths, the idea of a cult of speedsters dedicated to destroying The Flashis an interesting one. While the show has had no trouble with adapting the mythology of the comics in the past, this is one instance in which a strict adherence to the original concept might have been preferred. In any case, it is clear that Barry Allen will be facing some new enemy in season 7, but what name and face they will wear is anybody’s guess.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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