The History Of The Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

Over the years, The Flash has become synonymous with everything that is fast in the DC Universe. Whether the speedster in the suit is the original Earth-2 Flash, Jay Garrick, the second and most well known Flash, Barry Allen, or the fan-favorite and former Kid Flash, Wally West, all three have utilized a contraption called the Cosmic Treadmill to accomplish their never-ending superhero goals with varying results.

But what is this Cosmic Treadmill, and how exactly did it come about? Is it an extreme version of a cardio machine built for the Speed Force enabled or something that can change the very fabric of space, time, and reality as these characters know it? Either way, it's an indispensable tool that has changed each version of the Scarlet Speedster for the better, but also at times, for the worse.

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Established way back in 1961 in The Flash #125, the Cosmic Treadmill came about when Barry decided that he needed a safer and more reliable way to travel through time and visit parallel Earths after his accidental first trip into the past almost ended in disaster. Built by Barry upon returning to the present, the treadmill was powered by cosmic rays that used radioactive pulses to either send the user into the past or the future depending on what was inputted into the programmable interface, and also allowed easier travel to alternate Earths by matching the vibrational frequency of the Earth in question. Once locked in, the speedster need only to reach a certain speed on the treadmill, which then shot them into the time stream or parallel Earth it was configured to, allowing Barry and friends to bypass the often unpredictable and dangerous way of time traveling via running at warp speed on foot. When arriving at their destination, the exact vibrational frequency of that time period or Earth would need to be internally maintained throughout, because once those vibrations were relaxed, the trip comes to an end and Flash is returned home.

Being one of the most important aspects of The Flash’s background as well as one of the most consistently used devices in his stories, the Cosmic Treadmill has been used in any number of different scenarios, one in particular that brought Flash to the 25^thCentury where he first meets his arch-nemesis, Eobard Thawne, aka the Reverse-Flash, inadvertently opening up a whole can of worms that still plagues him to this day. Not only has Thawne exploited the treadmill to carry out his long list of super villainous schemes over the years, but he's also usually the impetus for Barry or any other Flash currently occupying the suit to use the treadmill in order to rectify the exponential damage Thawne constantly causes from his perch in the distant future, a problem that gets even worse when Thawne eventually finds a just as reliable way to travel through time without the treadmill by simply running with his own two feet. Keeping up with villains getting their hands on something that by all intents and purposes should be under constant lock and key, the Cosmic Treadmill also wound up giving birth to another iconic Flash villain in Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom. After Wally West’s version of the character refused to tamper with the time stream to help change Zoom’s past, Zoom took it upon himself to break into The Flash Museum where the treadmill was kept and since he had no clue as to what he was doing, badly botched his attempt at using it, resulting in an explosion that created a villain that Flash needs to defeat on a near-constant basis.

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And while the Flash Family almost exclusively uses the treadmill for their own means, they aren’t the only ones that can utilize its power. Since its inception, others who possess speed powers similar to The Flash, like Justice Leaguer Superman, or the aforementioned villain, Reverse-Flash, have all used the treadmill for various reasons both for the greater good and the selfishly evil. From being featured in the classic storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths to the Batman paired crossover and Doomsday Clock prelude, The Button, to more recent arcs where villains like the friend turned foe Godspeed and the over-powered Paradox have used the treadmill for their own nefarious purposes, the Cosmic Treadmill has always been a constant element of The Flash's mythology that keeps the treadmill front and center in fans’ minds, waiting to be utilized when the right time comes.

The Cosmic Treadmill is one of the most unique machines ever built in the DC Universe that not only holds ties to the greatest Flash stories of all time but is also integral to the history of the Fastest Man Alive. And even though Barry Allen is The Flash that invented the treadmill as well as the one who uses it the most, he's far from the last person who will take advantage of a device that can change literally anything and everything in the blink of an eye.

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About The Author

Brian Colucci (11 Articles Published)

Brian is first and foremost a nerd in every way shape and form. He likes to compare himself to a black hole, consuming any and every form of entertainment unlucky enough to get caught in his gravitational pull. It's not uncommon on any given day for him to read a couple comics, settle down with a good book, watch a few movies (inside and out of the theater), catch up on his ever growing but never depleting streaming queue, challenge himself with a few good video games, and of course, write his heart out. He spends every waking moment dreaming up interesting and intriguing concepts and ideas that will hopefully one day inspire and entertain anyone looking for an escape from their daily lives. Graduating from Full Sail University in good old humid Florida, Brian currently lives and works in New York City and lives for the day when all he has to do is wake up and create something unique and new for people to enjoy.

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The History Of The Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

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