Flash Knows His Most Brutal Villain Could Become His Equal as a Hero - Screen Rant

Many consider Gorilla Grodd to be one of the must brutal and inhumane enemies of the Flash, but in The Flash #750, Barry Allen discovers that in one reality, Grodd is just as much a hero as the Flash ever was, having gained speed powers in Barry's place. With Grodd's recent appearance in Teen Titans Academy showing his softer side, is this just more evidence that Grodd is on his way to rehabilitation and redemption?

Gorilla Grodd, a massively powerful and intelligent primate from Gorilla City, is postulated to be one of the world's most powerful psychics, and he has used this mental manipulation and his pure brute strength to become one of the most feared members of the Flash's rogues gallery. Grodd has been involved in many crises that have befallen DC's superheroes, Prime Earth, and the Omniverse, having recently played a critical role in the Dark Knights: Death Metal event. Grodd has a single-minded, animalistic hatred for Barry Allen and all other humans, so it comes as no surprise that Barry is so shocked to see a multiversal variant of Grodd who is playing the role of hero.

In The Flash #750 story "Why Me?" - with art from Francis Manapul, lettering by Joshua Reed, and writing by Brian Buccellato and Manapul - Barry Allen is late to meet Iris (again), and she admits the world needs a Flash, but asks if it really has to be him. Barry is intrigued by this question, and decides to use what he calls his "Speed Mind" to throw his consciousness into the Speed Force, allowing him to see alternate Earths where "Barry Allen was never the Flash!" In the most out-there vision, Barry sees an alternate world where Gorilla Grodd gained the powers of the Speed Force.

In the Flash's vision he clearly assumed that even with the Speed Force, Grodd would still be as evil as they come, immediately trying to save people from Grodd. Quickly though, Barry realizes that Grodd is in fact saving them himself, and in a sweet moment he reunites a separated mother and child. Making this moment even more poignant is the fact that both the Flash and Gorilla Grodd lost their mothers to violence as children. Additionally, in Teen Titans Academy #7 the new Teen Titan, Gorilla Gregg, is the nephew of Grodd, and ends up needing to fight against him. By the end of the issue, once Grodd is in prison, it is shown that Gregg is trying to stay in contact with Grodd, hoping that he can be redeemed and rehabilitated. Grodd has a long, long way to go, but he accepts Gregg's message and gift, suggesting his nephew could be a path back to the heroism he's clearly capable of.

While Flash's vision of the Scarlet Grodd was of an alternate Earth, it does seem to be one in which the major change is just that Barry didn't gain his powers, suggesting the mainstream Grodd has the potential to become a truly significant hero. With Barry having witnessed this alternate version of Grodd, where he is a hero, there is a chance he will be more quickly accepting of a Grodd seeking redemption, because in another world, he knows Grodd is his equal. Grodd has been in control of the Still Force and Speed Force before, but his words in Teen Titans Academy make it very clear his war on humanity is predicated on the fact he believes his people will never be safe while mankind rules the world. Perhaps it's time for Flash to stop treating Grodd like a beast and start looking for ways to truly connect with the villain, knowing that if things had played out differently, the villainous gorilla would be as much of a hero as Barry Allen.

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Alex Schlesinger (41 Articles Published)

Alex Schlesinger is a freelance Comics News writer for Screen Rant. While his career is in social work, one of his biggest passions is reading and writing about comic books. While Alex loves to write about all things comics, the X-Men will always hold a special place in his heart. Alex lives in Seattle with his fiancé Zach and their two cats Jasper & Harley. When not writing Comics News he is cooking, baking, reading science fiction, and travelling around the Pacific Northwest.