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...or just an incompetent superhero, because he'd commit manslaughter whenever he tried to save anybody.

The Flash has never had the mainstream prestige of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, but this was supposed to be his year. Barry Allen got a new show on the CW, a rumored spot in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," an all-but-guaranteed role in the "Justice League" movie, and his own film announced for 2018. Dude went from an almost forgotten character to having Grant Gustin and Ezra Miller play him simultaneously.

Related: Here Are The Next 10 DC Movies – And Who’s Starring

The Flash was having a moment. And then some dastardly eggheads had to stop him cold.

Experts at the University of Leicester recently published a paper titled "The Flash: Hero or Villain?" in the journal of Physics Special Topics, which crunches the numbers to mathematically prove that "being saved by The Flash is in fact more damaging than being struck by a car."

They analyze a scene from the CW show that depicts The Flash rescuing a cyclist from an oncoming taxi, analyzing the vehicle's speed -- even taking into account the size of a Ford Crown Victoria's tires -- versus The Flash's own velocity based on distance traveled within the depicted time interval, or something. (Look, we didn't exactly ace our science courses.)

Anyway, the physicists determined that the car is going 30 mph and The Flash is going 182 mph, more than six times faster. And speed isn't the only issue; a car's surface area apparently causes less of an impact on a human body than a human body traveling at such high speeds.

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"The Flash exerts more pressure on the cyclist than the taxi; this implies that The Flash in fact causes greater injury to the cyclist by 'saving' him," the physicists conclude, adding, "The Flash’s intended heroic act results in more villainous consequences..."

Physics Special Topics

There is a silver lining, however: The Flash could still be a hero and save people, but only "if he lowers the speed at which he makes contact." So, whattaya say, Barry? Wanna slow it down?