Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Flash"Kneel before Zod, Barry Allen!" We may not have heard this line inThe Flash, yet we certainly could have withMichael Shannon’s Zod returning to the DCU as the film’s primary antagonist. Zod’s inclusion in the film is a little out of left field, to say the least. The Flash has a wealth of villains in his Rogue’s Gallery, almost all of which could have served the antagonist role for Flash’s first solo film. There was, in fact,speculation of Reverse Flashserving as the main villain (or at least the one manipulating events from behind) right up to the very end. Zod, on the other hand, has always been one of Superman’s primary nemeses, with that association cemented in popular culture thanks to Zod’s presence as the villain intwo of the best Superman films.
Yet as odd as it sounds, there is a precedent in the pages of DC Comics. Specifically, General Zod and the Flash meet in the pages ofDC Comics Presents #73, in the storyline “Rampage in Scarlet.“DC Comics Presents, launched in 1978, is the Superman equivalent to Batman’sThe Brave and the Bold, a series where the hero teams up with another DC character on a typically stand-alone story. The series has seen Superman paired with the likes of Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Masters of the Universe,Ambush Bug (a character the DCEU needs to introduce), and, of course, the Flash, who he teamed up with the most with a count of four issues (including the first two).
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The Flash Gets Sucked Into a Problematic Vortex
DC Comics Presents#73 begins with the Flash chasing down a lightning-like energy when he is drawn into an inter-dimensional vortex. Superman is alerted when his Justice League of America communicator is set off by the Flash’s distress signal. He sets off immediately, thinking there’s a possibility there’s a relation to the troubles the Flash had encountered of late. It’s a reasonable assumption, given how the Flash had been forced to kill Professor Zoom in order toprevent him from murdering his fiancée, and is now on trial for manslaughter. The Flash was almost removed from the Justice Leave of America as well, with only Superman casting the final vote to keep him with the team.
Superman finds the vortex and slips in, where he finds a floating city above an ocean of molten lava. He flies around the city, finding portions of it destroyed. He is soon attacked by the Norkkans, inhabitants of the city. They are no match for the Kryptonian, of course, but he listens to their explanation. According to them, the destruction of their city was perpetrated by an earlier visitor: the Flash. Superman refuses to believe his friend would do such a thing, but is forced to backtrack when the Flash shows up and takes down a tower using his super-speed. Superman stops the debris from harming anyone, and then grabs the Flash. Easy? Nope, the Flash simply vibrates out of Superman’s grip and runs away.
Regardless of whatever headspace the Flash is indue to his troubles back home, the destructive behavior is wildly out of character for him. But not for General Zod, Faora Hu-El, Jax-Ur, and Kru-El, who are manipulating events from within the Phantom Zone. They psychically influenced the Norkkans to create the lightning phenomena that lured the Flash to the vortex, knowing that their real target, Superman, would come upon hearing the distress call. Now, they have the Flash under their control, using him to push the Norkkans to complete an inter-dimensional injector cannon, one that would send Superman into the Phantom Zone.
Once the cannon is complete, their use for the Flash is over, so they release him from their mental control as he slides into the molten lava, having been instructed to come to a halt while running across it. Jax-Ur then commands the Norkkans to fire the cannon at Superman. Just before being hit by the cannon blast, the Flash, who beat his presumed death by vibrating his molecules into intangibility, leaps up from the lava and takes the shot intended for Superman.The blast sends the Flash into the Phantom Zone, but because it was set to catch a Kryptonian, the Flash is able to escape. With the Phantom Zone villains now unable to exert their psychic influence, the Norkkans are saved, allowing Superman and the Flash to return to Earth.
General Zod Feels Wasted in ‘The Flash’
So, technically,General Zod and the Flashhave only met the one time, with Zod and his cronies using mind control to manipulate the Flash from the Phantom Zone inDC Comics Presents#73. There’s never been a face-to-face encounter, and the only battle between them may have been a split second when the Flash, presumably, attempted to stop Zod from taking control of his noggin. It’s a threadbare, one-degree separation between the two characters, but it counts. It’s somewhat disappointing that we have never truly seen what a one-on-one confrontation between the Flash and Zod would actually look like in the pages of DC Comics. There’s potential for the Flash to be pushed past his limits, forced to be consistently smarter and faster than the Kryptonian, Zod, in order to defeat him.
That potential isn’t really carried over toThe Flasheither, where a true fight between the two individual characters alone isn’t explored. It’s not that seeingSasha Calle’s Supergirl in combat with Zod isn’t amazing (it is!) but if you’re going to use a non-standard Flash villain, at the very least have them fight it out, otherwiseZod’s presence inThe Flashis simply a byproduct of Barry’s actions and is done and undone with every change made to the past. But with a history that has only ever seen the Flash and Zod meet momentarily mentally, seeing Shannon’s Zod and Miller’s Flash together on the screen, even without the fisticuffs, is still a win for the viewer.
