The Flash: How Arrowverse’s Bart Allen Is Different From Smallville’s Impulse

As Bart Allen has joined the Arrowverse on The Flash, how does Jordan Fisher’s character differ from Kyle Gallner’s version of Impulse on Smallville?

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As The Flash has finally introduced Bart Allen into the Arrowverse, this marks the second live-action version of Impulse after Smallville. Since The Flash premiered in 2014, the show has never shied away from the comics’ many characters and plots. Throughout the show’s run, it has introduced most of the Flash Family while also putting its own spin on the characters. The Flash recently became the latest Arrowverse show to reach its 150th episode as it celebrated its past, present, and future. One of the major stories of the episode was the return of Nora West-Allen, a.k.a. XS, as well as the Arrowverse version of Bart, with Jordan Fisher bringing him to life.

With Bart arriving on The Flash, the Arrowverse has pretty much introduced the entire Flash Family. However, before the Arrowverse even existed, Smallville was The CW’s DC flagship show, telling Clark Kent’s origin story before he became Superman. Throughout the Superman prequel’s run, they introduced several heroes and villains from the comics before Clark had even suited up. In Smallville season 4, Clark befriended Impulse, who was played by Kyle Gallner in the episode “Run.”

Despite the marketing labeling Bart as “The Flash” for his first episode, Smallville season 6 went on to establish him as Impulse. Even though Smallville’s Bart only appeared for a few episodes in later seasons, this was how many mainstream audience members were introduced to Impulse. Gallner and Fisher’s respective versions of Impulse are very different from each other, so what sets Smallville’s take on Bart apart from the iteration on The Flash and the Arrowverse?

Bart Allen’s Smallville Timeline As Impulse

While Smallville’s Bart joked about being from the future, it turned out that Impulse was actually telling the truth without realizing it. In the Smallville season 11 tie-in comic, it was revealed that Bart actually came from the 31st century. After Bart got struck by lightning, he was sent into the 21st century and woke up without having any memories. When Clark first meets him in Smallville season 4, Bart used his speed to steal before getting on a better path. In Smallville season 6, Green Arrow recruited Impulse as part of the Justice League. Gallner’s final appearance was in the Smallville season 8 finale as Bart helped his fellow Justice League members take on Doomsday.

In the Smallville season 11 comic, Bart played a big role in the third storyline, “Haunted.” The arc introduced the Smallville version of the DC comics’ speedster villain, Black Flash, who served as a major threat in “Haunted,” particularly to Impulse. As Bart had started to see the black demon-like speedster, he thought it was all in his head, but it turned out that Black Flash was indeed real and coming for him. As things escalated in “Haunted,” the arc eventually ended with Bart sacrificing himself to defeat Black Flash. However, in a later Smallville season 11 storyline, Superman traveled to the 31st century and accidentally ran into Bart as a kid, bringing Impulse’s story full circle.

How Smallville Dealt With Other Flashes & Speedsters

While The Flash has introduced multiple speedsters into the Arrowverse, Smallville dealt with that mythology very differently. Despite Bart coming from the future, his first Smallville episode did name-drop Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, and Wally West. The comic established that when Bart woke up without his memories, those names were the only things he remembered. Jay got introduced on-screen during Smallville’s Justice Society of America storyline before playing a bigger role in the season 11 comic book. After Impulse’s sacrifice, Jay creates a school for teenagers with superpowers in Bart’s memory, which became Smallville’s version of the Teen Titans.

Despite never showing up in the flesh, the reason Bart knew of Barry, Wally, Jay, and even Max Mercury was because of their connection to the Speed Force. Once Bart was given his powers and had his ties to the Speed Force activated, those names were literally put in his head. While Smallville didn’t use Barry and Wally, the writers did incorporate some of their character traits in Gallner’s Bart. Due to Warner Bros.’ film-related restrictions on Smallville, there was only so much the show could do with The Flash mythology and is the main reason that Bart had to be called Impulse instead of The Flash as had originally been planned.

How The Flash Introduced & Changed Bart Allen For The Arrowverse

When Impulse got introduced on The Flash, the Arrowverse creators retooled parts of his comic book background. While Bart still comes from the future, he was born sometime in 2030. In the comics, Impulse is actually from the 30th century, meaning both Smallville and The Flash took some creative liberties. However, the biggest change the Arrowverse made was that rather than being Iris West-Allen and Barry’s future grandchild, Fisher’s Impulse is instead their son and Nora’s younger brother. In the comics, Iris and Barry had two children named Don and Dawn, a.k.a. the Tornado Twins.

Despite Nora being an amalgamation of Dawn and the original XS, Bart fills the role as The Flash’s son while still having the classic Impulse character traits. However, because the Arrowverse changed Bart’s family linage, it also excludes Impulse’s connection to the Thawne family, while it remains unclear whether or not Smallville’s Impulse ever had the Thawne family connection. Don was Bart’s father in the comics, while his mother was Meloni Thawne, who is related to Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. the Reverse-Flash. Another notable change to The Flash’s Bart is that the show made the Arrowverse version of Godspeed his arch-enemy.

While Gallner’s and Fisher’s respective takes on Impulse is solid, the latter is slightly closer to the comics. From the more extensive connections to the Flash Family and the Impulse costume, the Arrowverse’s iteration of Bart Allen in The Flash season 7 is more faithful to the source material while still having made a few changes. Though, in Smallville’s defense, the show was produced before comic book TV shows were as big as they are now. Nevertheless, thanks to Smallville and The Flash, Bart Allen/Impulse has been able to exist in live-action more than once.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/flash-bart-allen-smallville-arrowverse-comparison-differences/