The second half of The Flash season 6 has seen The Fastest Man Alive and his wife, reporter Iris West-Allen, investigating a mysterious organization known as the Black Hole. Yet very little is known about the cabal of sinister scientists, despite their existence having been teased since the start of the season.
Sinister organizations seem to be en vogue in the Black Lightning's storyline is centered upon Jefferson Pierce's battle to save his hometown of Freeland from the control of a government agency known as the ASA.
The goals of the Black Hole remain as elusive as the organization itself. Whatever their ultimate aims, their ability to remain hidden and attack their enemies unseen has already been confirmed, much to Iris West-Allen's dismay as two of her s have been killed so far by the Black Hole's efforts to intimidate her. Yet still the question remains: what is the Black Hole and how exactly do they compare to their comic book counterparts?
The Black Hole in DC Comics
Created by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico, the Black Hole first appeared in 2016's The Flash #1; the first issue of The Flash following the DC Rebirth revival. The series' opening story arc, Lighting Strikes Twice, saw Barry Allen having to contend with a series of strange storms that were tied to the Speed Force. He soon discovered that these storms were the work of the Black Hole.
The Black Hole was unique as a criminal organization in that it was primarily made up of scientists, though it did employ professional soldiers in its ranks as well. The Black Hole was founded by Dr. Joseph Carver; a former STAR Labs employee who had once approached The Flash about studying his powers and finding ways to tap the Speed Force for the benefit of mankind. When The Flash refused his offer, Dr. Carver became obsessed and formed the Black Hole to explore the Speed Force on their own.
Several years later, Dr. Carver's efforts bore fruit, as the Black Hole developed advanced weaponry based on his research. While they were unable to develop a precise connection to The Speed Force like the one Barry Allen enjoyed, they were able to tap it to give super-speed to random people through the Speed Force storms they created. This led to the creation of several new villains, like the serial killer Negative Flash.
The Black Hole's Powers in DC Comics
Strangely enough, the Black Hole was better at accidentally empowering other people with super-speed than their own . Despite this, they still proved to be a major threat to The Flash and the newbie super-speedsters he began training in the wake of the Speed Force Storms. The Black Hole developed special "Tire Spikes" which interfered with speedsters' connection to the Speed Force, leaving them temporarily powerless. They also armed themselves with Lightning Guns that tapped the destructive powers of the Speed Force, allowing them to shoot focused electrical blasts.
The Black Hole's most successful creation was The Speed Machine; a special armored suit worn by Dr. Carver himself, which allowed him to tap the power of the Speed Force storms directly. Rather than absorbing the power of a single bolt of lightning, the suit allowed Dr. Carver to draw upon the whole of the Speed Force. Unfortunately for Dr. Carver, his unaugmented body could not handle the strain of that much power and he was transformed into a creature that resembled a giant humanoid whirlwind. Thankfully, Barry Allen and two other speedsters were able to drain the excess Speed Force energy away from Dr. Carver, returning him to a normal physical state, though the experience of being pure energy left him catatonic.
The Black Hole In The Flash Season 6
The Black Hole were a background presence in the first half of The Flash season 6. The organization's existence was first hinted at in the second episode of the season, "A Flash Of The Lightning." The action of the episode saw Team Flash investigating the mysterious death of a man who was burned alive inside his car. The death was eventually determined to be the work of a metahuman assassin called Ultraviolet, who Iris West-Allen discovered was a young woman named Esperanza Garcia that had disappeared mysteriously after being hospitalized.
Iris was able to track down the man who had checked Esperanza out of the hospital in "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Part 1." She also recognized him among the crowd of people attending a high-class super-villain's party in "License to Elongate." When Iris confronted the man in a private parking garage, he claimed to be a transporter for Malestrom Couriers; a company that catered to the rich and powerful in delivering anything, no questions asked. The mystery man later turned up dead in the same parking lot, with his car having exploded while he was in it. All Iris had left at that point was a pin with a unique spiral design.
Thankfully, Iris was approached shortly thereafter by an ex-employee of McCulloch Technologies, who suggested she turn her attention to the company's CEO Joseph Carver. Carver became immediately standoffish after Iris began asking him hard questions about company's research and she was nearly assassinated shortly thereafter by an assassin wielding a special photon rifle. This assassin, whom Cisco Ramon later dubbed Dr. Light, wore a distinctive jacket with a spiral pattern similar to the one in the pin worn by the transporter.
The Iris West will soon be learning just what the organization is planning within the bowels of McCulloch Technologies.