Warning: Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 12
Deathstorm’s power level reveals that The Flash season 8 has finally fixed the show’s biggest villain problem. Over the last several years, Barry Allen’s biggest enemies have been the targets of numerous criticisms. The Flash’s first few seasons have pitted Team Flash against some impressive adversaries, but the treatment of his later opponents has been consistently problematic.
In seven seasons, the Scarlet Speedster has saved the world from a wide variety of super-powered threats, including those with speed on a level similar (or greater) to that of his own. But in addition to fighting evil speedsters like Reverse-Flash, Zoom, and Savitar, Barry has also spent his fair share of time-fighting characters whose powers have nothing to do with speed. Over the last few years, Barry has fought hard to save Central City from villains such as Cicada, Bloodwork, Godspeed, and the second Mirror Master, who have all posed significant challenges for Team Flash. The same can be said for The Flash season 8’s Deathstorm, with whom the Arrowverse is currently building another multi-episode arc.
How powerful Deathstorm is in The Flash season 8, episode 12, titled “Death Rises,” shows that the series has finally moved past a long-standing issue with its villains. Cicada, Bloodwork, Mirror Master, and more all pushed Barry to the edge for several episodes each, but beating them shouldn’t have been that difficult. As a young speedster still growing into his powers, it made sense for Flash to struggle against faster speedsters like Savitar, but his inability to take down the others was often hard to believe. For instance, Team Flash botched more than one winnable fight with Cicada, while Mirror Master was inexplicably said to be faster than Barry (despite not being a speedster). The Flash has avoided this issue altogether with Despero and now Deathstorm, whose spectacular power levels make their superiority over Barry feel earned.
The Flash season 8, episode 12 confirmed that Deathstorm is a villain of “cosmic” proportions. The remarkable capabilities he possesses, his reputation as a villain from The Blackest Night crossover event in DC Comics, and his cosmic origin story show that he’s on a level far above Cicada, Bloodwork, and Mirror Master. In contrast to them, Deathstorm would actually be a villain worthy of a Justice League team-up in the Arrowverse.
In Deathstorm’s case, it’s easy to understand why Barry feels so outmatched. Unable to beat Deathstorm alone, Team Flash has to rely on a plan to power up Danielle Panabaker's Killer Frost. Barry was in similar dilemmas when he was facing Cicada and the others, even though there was a sense that Barry really should have been able to beat them. After all, he was the Fastest Man Alive. Super speed is one of the best powers in the DC Universe and one that should have been enough to dispose of any metahuman threat. By making characters like Despero and Deathstorm cosmic villains, The Flash has finally found a way to justify Team Flash’s failures.
The Flash releases new episodes on Wednesdays on The CW.