The Flash Gives Its Own Version of Tony Stark's Nightmare in Avengers: Age of Ultron - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Flash Season 7, Episode 5 "Fear Me" which aired Tuesday on the CW.

The seventh season of The Flash has been exploring the mental and emotional backlash that Barry has to deal with following the disappearance of Iris West-Allen into the Mirrorverse and his feeling of helplessness with the loss of the Speed Force, Nash and a reformed Abrakadabra on top of Eva's invasion. The Flash has always been a character that struggles with not being fast enough, strong enough or even good enough to save the city he's devoted his life to. The latest episode of The Flash brought those fears to the surface, similar to how Tony Stark had to face his biggest fear in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Continue scrolling to keep reading Click the button below to start this article in quick view.

While Age of Ultron did not invent the trope, Barry's nightmare had some marked similarities to Tony's. In Barry's case, he was up against a new villain called Psych, an empath with the ability to enhance people's fears by having them experience their worst nightmare. Barry saw himself in a damaged CCPD with the bodies of Cisco, the Speed Force (current taking the form of Nora Allen) and Iris. This left him horrified as he learned that in his nightmare, Fuerte, another new villain that's been causing rampage throughout the city, killed everyone, and there was nothing he could do to stop her as she'd previously absorbed his lightning with ease.

While trying to stop Psych a second time, Barry was forced to revisit his nightmare, only this time, the corpses rose and placed blame on Barry, with Cisco going after his fear of being powerless, the Speed Force going after his trust and Iris providing the final blow by stating that when Barry let her die, he killed their children too. The job of a hero always comes with losses and yet, there is always one major loss that no hero can bounce back from: being responsible for the death of their loved ones. This fear is echoed throughout most, if not all, superhero media and was portrayed spectacularly in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The feeling of powerlessness and an inability to save everyone could be argued as the main drive for Tony Stark's entire character arc throughout the Infinity Saga. This is most prominent in Avengers: Age of Ultron when Wanda Maximoff showed Tony his nightmare scenario -- the Avengers all dead, and Steve Rogers using his final breath to state that Tony could have saved them. This comes at a devastating time for Tony, as Iron Man 3 tackled his PTSD following the Battle of New York. Seeing his nightmare come true is what made Tony feel the need to build Ultron as a last line of defense in case they failed.

Ultron was originally intended to be a guardian in case another extraterrestrial threat came to Earth that the Avengers could not take on. While Stark and Banner's original intention for Ultron was realized through Vision, the nightmare became the catalyst for Ultron's creation and eventually lead to his fear coming true: half the planet vanished, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Both heroes were taken down a notch by their nightmares, forced to experience the one thing they'd never hoped to see. Yet, they both overcame that fear and became better heroes because of it. In Barry's case, his courage ended up being the exact antidote for Psych's powers and in Tony's case, he was a snap away from fulfilling his life's purpose and saving the world.

The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes and Tom Cavanagh. New episodes air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

KEEP READING: Impulse Joins The Arrowverse! The Flash Has Cast Its Bart Allen

Falcon and Winter Soldier Takes a Shot at DC Superhero Names

Related Topics

About The Author

Zeid Abughazaleh (106 Articles Published)

Zeid Abughazaleh is a late bloomer when it comes to comics as he did not get entranced into the world until the release of Iron Man in 2008. After which he was skyrocketed deep into the delves of comic-based entertainment, having an interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Arrowverse, and the DC Animated Movies Universe. In his free time he loves to write scripts for short films, plays, and sitcoms. Online Handle: @jordanianrage (Twitter)