Flash Running and Screaming

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About

Flash Running and Screaming refers to a green screen clip of DC Comics character Flash / Barry Allen running away from the villain Zoom while turning and screaming. The clip, uploaded first to Reddit and then to Twitter in November 2021, inspired a series of edits using the original as an exploitable in which Flash is being chased by various characters.

Origin

On August 27th, 2019, season 5 of the superhero TV series The Flash was released on DVD and Blu-ray as The Flash: The Complete Fifth Season.^[1] The edition contained an eight-minute gag reel that included green-screen footage of Flash / Barry Allen (portrayed by Grant Gustin) and XS / Nora West-Allen (portrayed by Jessica Parker Kennedy) running away from the villain Zoom who is chasing them. At one point in the shot, Flash turns away and lets out a comically high-pitched scream. On August 28th, 2019, YouTube^[2] channel Kid FuryTV-Productions uploaded the gag real (video shown below, left).

The finished scene appears in episode 8 "What's Past Is Prologue" of season 5 of the show, although the scream was cut in the final version (scene shown below, right).^[3]

On November 6th, 2021, Redditor^[4] JJfFlashDog posted a cut version of the clip to /r/perfectlycutscreams, where it gained over 20,100 upvotes in nine days. On November 8th, Twitter^[5] user @qnthjo reposted the video, with the post gaining over 40 retweets and 300 likes. On November 10th, Twitter^[6] user @RiverOfIce_ reused @qnthjo's video in their tweet, writing "I CANT STOP WATCHING THIS." The post gained over 27,000 retweets and 159,600 likes in five days (shown below), as the video accumulated over 1.7 million views. In the same thread, multiple Twitter users posted edits of the video, editing Flash into scenes from various films, TV series and video games.

Spread

The format continued to spread in the following days as it was edited into various scenes. For example, on November 11th, 2021, content creator Crisp Rat tweeted^[7] the first edit of the video, combining it with the Running Linkara meme. The tweet gained over 7,200 retweets, 37,400 likes and 355,600 views in four days (shown below).

Later on the same day. Twitter^[8] user @FlamingAMVs19 posted an edit combining the clip with the Oscar Proud Running meme from The Proud Family Movie. The post received over 151,700 views, 4,100 retweets and 22,600 likes in four days (shown below).

The format spread outside the thread in the following days, with multiple versions going viral. For example, on November 12th, Twitter^[9] user @Fitting2huMusic posted a Touhou Project meme that gained over 158,000 views, 4,100 likes and 18,500 retweets in three days.