Wally West Pose — Wally West in red Flash costume with arms outstretched against a cosmic white background

Wally West Pose

2020image macrosemi-active

Published October 15, 2026

Wally West Pose, also known as Wally West Soloing, is an image macro drawn from a January 2020 panel in Flash Forward #5 showing the DC speedster hovering mid-air with his arms open and chest out1. Powerscaling TikTokers put the pose onto edits claiming Wally could win any one-on-one fight in fiction4. By May 2025, a POV-captioned version by @astrifics gained over 202,000 likes in nine days8.

powerscaling memes dc comics memes comic book panel memes who would win memes fandom discourse memes

Overview

Wally West Pose edits usually set the image macro to loud hype audio, then layer a caption suggesting Wally could outscale someone from another franchise6. Typical formats include POV captions where a rival character shows up, only for the music cue to signal that they are, in meme parlance, 'cooked'8. Some edits name-drop earlier powerscaling trends from 2021 and 2022 as nostalgic ComicTok callbacks7.

Fans use a soloing bit where Wally's name alone works as the punchline to any 'who would win' hypothetical, a style with roots in /r/whowouldwin threads going back to 20153. Comparisons target anime villains, Marvel heroes and other DC speedsters, with the pose itself acting as visual proof of Wally's imagined supremacy.

Origin & Background

Platform
DC Comics (source panel) / TikTok (viral spread)
Date
2020

DC Comics published Flash Forward #5 on January 15, 2020, featuring a page where Wally West floats in the air with arms open and chest out1. Inside Pulse's review described the moment as part of a cosmic arc in which Wally destroys a Dark Multiverse planet after reuniting with his children Jai and Iris2. The scene later became the base image for powerscaling edits.

Debates about Wally soloing other fictional characters predate the pose, going back at least to a 2015 r/whowouldwin thread comparing Batman and Wally West3. On TikTok, the earliest surviving powerscaling edit using the pose came from @wally_west_solos01 on June 13, 2021, with just 51 likes over four years and a sound track that is no longer available4.

How It Spread

Interest in Wally West edits revived in September 2024, when TikToker @kristbozaia posted a retrospective calling the 2020 debates 'peak ComicTok' on September 5, 20245. One day later, @gaz.editzzz shared an edit referencing the 2021 and 2022 trends, gaining over 321,100 likes in nine months7.

Another resurgence hit in May 2025, when @astrifics posted a POV-style edit on May 21, 2025, with the caption 'Your favorite character shows up but you hear this song (you're cooked),' collecting over 202,000 likes in nine days8. One week later, on May 28, 2025, X user @Parzival_jay reposted a Wally West edit that gained over 60,000 likes within two days9.

Timeline

2015-05

An r/whowouldwin thread pits Batman against Wally West, part of the early soloing debate culture around the character[3].

2020-01-15

DC publishes Flash Forward #5, which contains the panel of Wally hovering with his arms spread that would later become the macro[1].

2021-06-13

TikToker @wally_west_solos01 posts the earliest surviving ComicTok powerscaling edit using the pose, which gets 51 likes over four years[4].

2024-09-05

@kristbozaia posts a TikTok retrospective labeling the 2020 Wally West debates 'peak ComicTok,' earning over 58,300 likes[5].

2024-09-06

@gaz.editzzz shares a Wally West edit that collects over 321,100 likes in nine months[7].

2025-05-21

@astrifics posts a POV 'you're cooked' edit using the Wally West Pose, gaining over 202,000 likes in nine days[8].

2025-05-28

X user @Parzival_jay reposts a Wally West edit that gains over 60,000 likes in two days[9].

How to Use This Meme

Creators typically match the Wally West Pose macro with an upbeat sound and a POV caption teasing that Wally has arrived to outscale a rival8. Common conventions include name-dropping an opposing franchise character or using phrases like 'you're cooked'7.

Frequently Asked Questions