Who Is Godspeed? The Flash’s New Speedster Villain Explained

Who is Godspeed and what separates him from the other speedster supervillains who have tested The Flash? While not as famous as Eobard Thawne or Zoom, Godspeed may be even more dangerous in regards to the unique ways he is able to manipulate the Speed Force.

Godspeed is a relatively new inductee to The Flash’s rogues’ gallery in the comics, having first appeared in The Flash: Rebirth #1 special in 2016. Best described as the Venom to Barry Allen’s Spider-Man, Godspeed is an anti-hero who had no qualms about killing criminals in the name of justice. This point would have brought him into conflict with The Flash, even ignoring how Barry Allen was indirectly responsible for the creation of Godspeed.

And now, Godspeed is appearing on The CW’s The Flash. This comes after two seasons of Barry Allen battling non-speedster villains, such as Clifford DeVoe aka The Thinker and Orlin Dwyer aka Cicada. But just exactly who is Godspeed?

Godspeed’s Origins and Powers In The Comics

Godspeed was August Heart – a detective with the Central City Police Department, who was Barry Allen’s only real friend on the force. Like Barry, August built his career as a cop around the death of a loved one – his beloved brother, whose alleged murderer was set free because the physical evidence against him was destroyed in the same lab accident that turned Barry Allen into Flash. The two bonded over their mutual tragedies and became closer still after August was struck by a bolt of lightning during a freak storm generated by the Speed Force.

August became Flash’s partner and the first person who learned Barry Allen’s secret identity after the strange storm gave several people super-speed powers. Flash had just begun training these new speedsters in how to keep their powers under control when a new villain called Godspeed emerged. Godspeed began killing the novices, somehow taking their powers in the process and growing faster with every life he took.

Barry identified Godspeed when he realized that there was one victim who wasn’t a speedster who had been identified as having been killed by Godspeed. This lone victim was Billy Parks – the man August Heart believed was responsible for killing his brother. Confronted with this knowledge, August confessed to the killings, saying he had lost faith in the criminal justice system and decided to take the power he needed to become a super-fast judge, jury, and executioner. This came after he accidentally discovered that he could steal the speed and life-force from other speedsters while chasing down a pair of super-fast criminals.

August developed another power that made him a danger, though. He had absorbed so much Speed Force energy from his victims that he had become capable of briefly moving so fast that he could literally be in two places at once. It was this ability that enabled him to continue killing as Godspeed while still seemingly being on the lookout for the murderous speedster as August Heart. Thankfully, using both these abilities caused August great physical pain, leaving him exhausted for a time after stealing another speedster’s power or creating a speed-clone. This gave Barry Allen the edge he needed to put his former friend behind bars.

Godspeed on The Flash TV Series

Surprisingly little has been said about Godspeed’s presence on The Flash beyond the fact that he will be making his first appearance in an episode titled “Godspeed.” The photos revealing the character’s costume were released separately from the other preview photos for the episode, which came out several days earlier. There is also nothing said about the character in the episode’s official synopsis. While the costume is a dead-ringer for Godspeed’s costume in the comics, nothing has been revealed about his exact powers or background. The only thing that can be said for certain is that this new villain is certain to make Barry Allen’s life even more difficult, and fans may enjoy a break from Cicada while Barry takes on yet another speedster villain.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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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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