More than most other DC heroes, Wally West's Flash and Hal Jordan's Green Lantern have a lot in common. Both heroes saw their lives torn apart, with the people they care about most gone, taken from them because of the actions of their friends. Driven by a determination to recapture what they lost, the heroes did whatever it took to get their loved ones back, even striking out at friends. In their darkest moments, both Justice League veterans lost control of their powers or their tempers and killed, effectively rebranding themselves as dangerous villains.
While the falls of Wally West and Hal Jordan already strike some similar notes, their similarities could become even more pronounced with Generation Zero. With the upcoming Free Comic Book Day special set to give Wally the powers of Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan, DC may be setting Wally up to become the new Parallax.
In the '90s, the destruction of Coast City at the hands of Mongul and Cyborg Superman led Hal Jordan down a path of villainy that briefly made him one of the biggest dangers to the DC Universe. After he remained a looming figure for years, the threat he posed only really ended when Hal gave his life to save Earth during Final Night. Before the revelation that Parallax was a cosmic fear entity that possessed Hal, the hero's long road to redemption saw him become the Spectre before Green Lantern: Rebirth saw him return to a more traditional role in a critically-acclaimed story. After a decade away, Hal Jordan was finally back to being himself, and readers rejoiced.
And 16 years later, DC seems to be repeating the process with Wally West.
With Flashpoint and the birth of the New 52, DC effectively wiped out the original Wally West, the hero who was the Flash for most of the past two decades and replaced him with a new, younger Wally West. When the original Wally returned a few years later in DC Universe: Rebirth, things weren't great for the fan-favorite speedster. Wally returned and came back to a reality where his wife Linda Park had no memory of him and his children were still missing.
All of this drove Wally to the brink of madness, landing him at Sanctuary where he lost control of his powers and a dozen heroes in Heroes in Crisis. Now, on a path to redemption, Wally has found himself on the verge of becoming the most powerful being in the multiverse in Flash Forward.
According to the solicitation for Generation Zero, Wally will take over the Mobius Chair and gain the powers of Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan. With all that power, Wally has the ability to bring back his children and reshape the DC Universe in any way he sees fit.
When Hal Jordan tried this as Parallax in the Zero Hour crossover, Earth's heroes came together to stop him. Even though Hal may have believed that his intentions were good, he recklessly played with the fabric of the DC Universe by messing with time. Now, Wally seems like he'll have to face that same moment. With Manhattan's power, Wally could restore every moment of DC history that's ever been lost and turn the world into a veritable utopia on a whim.
While that power pushed Hal into succumbing to Parallax's influence, Manhattan's power could be similarly corrosive for Wally West. Even though Hal and DC's other heroes were eventually able to eliminate Parallax's influence, there's no guarantee that anyone could stop Wally, especially with the combined power of the Mobius Chair and Manhattan's powers.
If Wally decides to start playing god, there's no telling who among DC's heroes would even want to stop him from making changes to the timeline. but for good or ill, the future of the DC Universe is in Wally's hands.