The Flash Season 5 episode 1, "Nora," introduces yet another speedster to the series: XS, played by Jessica Parker Kennedy. Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Flash Season 5.
Thirty years in the future, XS (a.k.a. Nora West-Allen) is the fastest woman alive. As the guardian of Central City, she wants to live up to the legacy of her father: The Flash. She is the future daughter of Barry and Iris, earning her name because she did "everything in excess" as a kid, not all unlike her dad as a young adult (**cough, Flashpoint**).
So what else do we know about Nora? The show hasn't revealed too much, so let's look the the comic books for answers. XS was created by Tom McCraw and Jeff Moy, first appearing in 1994's Legionnaires. She's associated with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and like other speedsters on The Flash, can run at the near-speed of light, travel through time, phase through objects, etc. We have yet to see her full skillset on the show.
While XS is a member of The Flash family, there are big differences between the show and the comic books. In the comics, her civilian name is Jenni Ognats, and her mother, Dawn, is Barry Allen's daughter (making her his granddaughter in the comics). Dawn and her twin brother Don are the iconic Tornado Twins (they move in tandem so fast they look like tornadoes).
In the comics, XS' father Jeven Ognats is from Aarok, a human colony in the Post-Zero Hour universe of the 30th Century. When Professor Zoom attacks, the Ognats family flees, unsuccessfully, left stranded on Earth 247. The family was captured by the Dominators. Jenni's latent superspeed genes activated during the ordeal after she watched her father get tortured. That's when she first uses her powers, subsequently joining the Legion to learn how to master them. Earth 247 was eventually destroyed, but Jenni survived along with the Legion of that time. With the Legion, she travels through time and universes on numerous adventures, eventually landing in the 20th century where she meets her cousin, Impulse.
Impulse, a.k.a. Bart Allen, is the son of Don Allen. He's known, in the comics and other animated incarnations, for traveling to the 21st century to live among Barry, Iris and Wally. That's pretty much what Nora is doing in The Flash Season 5, one of the ways the show pulls from many different characters to form Nora's backstory. It can't be a coincidence Joe and Cecille's baby is named Jenna West … a clear nod do Jenni Ognats.
XS also shares the name Nora with another Flash family character— Nora Cruise is the daughter of Barry Allen and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, introduced in Justice League #26's "Legacy" storyline last year. Although in the show, the name Nora is said to be a tribute to Barry's deceased mother, killed by Reverse-Flash when he was a child.
Now that you know about XS from the comics, any theories about where The Flash will take her character in Season 5? Sound off in the comments.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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