The Flash mantle has been taken by several heroes throughout the DC Universe, though two characters in particular have defined the role the most: Barry Allen – the Silver Age Flash – and his sidekick and nephew Wally West, who would become the new Flash after Barry’s death. This led to decades of stories in which Wally truly was the fastest man alive, with the Scarlet Speedster romancing Linda Park – the love of his life.
Through several trials and tribulations, she and Wally would become a bedrock of the DC Universe with a love even stronger than the Speed Force. Ironically, for as popular as this couple is in the comics, it’s never been adapted outside the comics. This includes live-action productions and animation, with Wally’s love life never resembling anything from the source material. It’s disappointing for fans who are familiar with Linda, but it’s also reflective how Wally West became diminished priority.
Wally West And Linda Park Have One Of DC’s Best Romances
Created by William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque, Linda Park debuted in The Flash Vol. 2 #28. A reporter in the same vein as Lois Lane, Vicki Vale, and Wally’s aunt Iris, Linda was actually rather antagonistic toward Wally West initially. This was due to them seeing each other as either stuck up or arrogant, though eventually their walls would break down. Still, they would have ups and down throughout their growing relationship, namely Linda feeling somewhat out of place for not being a superhero like so many of her boyfriend’s associates. Likewise, her ex-husband would re-enter her life before ending up dead, surprising Wally who didn’t know of his existence.
One major breakthrough for the both of them was the second time that Wally entered the Speed Force – Linda believed he was gone forever. Despite this, he soon returned to her, revealing that it was his love for Linda that allowed him to travel back. From there, they would eventually get married and have two children together. Wally’s daughter Irey even inherited his Speed Force powers. In more recent events, they welcome a third child named Wade West, being one of the few couples in comics to get married and have multiple children. Sadly, none of this development has shown up outside the comics, and Wally and Linda’s romance has strangely never been adapted.
Wally And Linda Aren’t Together In Any DC Movies, TV Shows, Or Cartoons
Wally West has been in numerous DC Comics adaptations, and Linda has been in a few, as well. Despite this, none of these productions have featured their love story, even though they were perhaps in the Top 3 of DC’s couples for much of the ’90s and 2000s. To be honest, they were far more fleshed out and iconic than Barry Allen and Iris West, whose entire characters were veritable relics of the Silver Age. Some of the reason for the lack of Wally and Linda’s relationship being adapted stems from the nature of said adaptations, with the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons combining much of Wally’s backstory with Barry Allen. Linda did briefly appear in the latter, but the role didn’t amount to much at all. The Teen Titans cartoon largely made things up for many of its characters, all the while completely ignoring their secret identities. Due to Wally (who’s never even named as such) being younger in this series, Linda isn’t there, and Wally is instead paired with the mostly-original character Jinx. The same happened in Young Justice, where Wally’s love interest was Artemis Crock (who was likewise heavily altered from the comics).
Perhaps the worst example of this trend was the Arrowverse series The Flash. There (much like a small appearance in the 1990s The Flash TV series), Linda is a contemporary of Barry Allen instead of Wally who –in this world – was Barry’s brother-in-law instead of his nephew by marriage. Wally in the Arrowverse is much younger than Linda, and the two never interact with each other. Linda’s Earth-2 counterpart was also combined with Kimyo Hoshi, the second Doctor Light in the comics. It’s extremely odd that so many adaptations have completely ignored such an iconic relationship, with some of these worlds seemingly going out of their way to keep Wally and Linda apart. This stems from how the Flash property has been handled for over a decade, though it’s possible that new adaptations can finally fix this mistake.
Barry Allen Focused Storylines Robbed DC Fans Of Wally and Linda’s Romance
Both in the comics and outside media, Barry Allen has been the overwhelming focus of The Flash as a brand. Not only is he the “one true Flash” in the TV show, but that was especially the case in the DC Extended Universe. There, Wally West didn’t exist, with Barry cribbing more superficial elements from Wally than ever. Wally was heavily altered in the Arrowverse to the point of being Wally in name only, but that was mainly due to his being a partial adaptation of the New 52 Wallace West. This character was meant to be the new incarnation of Wally, but fan backlash saw the true Wally West restored and Wallace established as a separate character who’s his cousin. Due to the classic Wally being diminished so much since the New 52, however, there was little chance of his romance with Linda being a focus.
That can now change due to the upcoming DC Universe movie reboot. Starting with 2025’s Superman: Legacy, the movies will be completely separate from what came before, all the while occupying a world in which superheroes are already long-established. This presents the opportunity to shift focus away from Barry Allen and instead feature Wally West as the main Flash of the new DCU. That’s especially the case after the failure of the 2023 Flash movie featuring Barry. By putting Wally in the spotlight, having Linda be present as his love interest will be a necessity. Not only would this separate his adventures from Barry’s, but it would also make Wally’s supporting cast more mainstream. The comics have already done this by restoring Wally West’s briefly retconned marriage and putting him and Linda back together. Their love was too strong for even the New 52 to completely erase, and one day, it’ll do the same for movies and TV shows.