When The CW announced it would be spinning off the popular DC Comics series Arrow to create The Flash, I was cautiously optimistic. I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull off The Flash’s character on a TV budget, I had concerns about Grant Gustin (a Glee alum) playing the part of the iconic superhero and I was wondering how they could pull off the show without truly embracing its multi-dimensional source mythology.
Boy, was I wrong.
The first season of The Flash defied my expectations of how good a true-to-the-comics superhero show could be. I was a fan of Arrow, but The Flash‘s first season blew its predecessor out of the water.
The show looked sleek, the cast (specifically Gustin and Tom Cavanagh) was outstanding, and the tone was campy to a perfect degree as it totally embraced its source material, not afraid to challenge viewers with storylines that involved time travel and multiple dimensions. In the first season we saw a bevy of villains you wouldn’t think would translate well to the small screen, including Captain Cold, The Trickster and even the telepathic gorilla himself, Gorilla Grodd, but it all totally managed to work. The series got more and more complicated as it went along, yet didn’t lose its core audience.
Season two promises to be just as bonkers.
The Flash is bringing in a ton of characters from the comic books. With the wormhole opening up in the season finale, teasing elements of Earth-Two, including Jay Garrick’s helmet and Caitlin Snow as Killer Frost, it allows the show to explore those parallel universes and characters in a new way.
I wasn’t sure how the show was going to handle turning Snow into Killer Frost considering she seems like the last character who would turn into a villain, but with Earth-Two, the show can double-dip and have two versions of the character without ruining the foundation of the original Snow. I’m interested to see how many parallel versions of characters we’ll get to see. When Fringe dipped into the concept of alternate dimensions, seeing the characters interact in new and different ways was a lot of fun. I expect we’ll see a similar thing here.
Cisco, who later discovered he was effected by the particle accelerator blast and had his own superpowers, will likely transition to Vibe on Earth-One, with his ability to detect and remember alternate timelines coming in great use for the Flash team with the discovery of Earth-Two.
Garrick, the original first superhero to don the Flash name, will likely be a younger (possibly “New 52“) version of the character. Teddy Sears (Masters of Sex) has been cast in the role, and producers have said Garrick will serve as the new mentor for Barry Allen, now that Eobard Thawne (last season’s main villain) has been erased from the timeline.
I don't use the word "cool" lightly, but this @CW_TheFlash image is. #CarmineInfantinoForever pic.twitter.com/KQu2w4F9a9
— kentucker (@kentucker) August 11, 2015
Wally West will be a part of season two, as relative unknown Keiynan Lonsdale (The Divergent Series: Insurgent) has been cast as Iris West’s nephew, which means we’ll likely see Kid Flash eventually. Producer Gabrielle Stanton told International Business Times that the show’s plans for West are going to please fans, but it’s not going to be a variation you’d expect, as they’re going to put their “own spin on it.” The show has the option of introducing him in its main timeline, or the alternate one — or both. There’s no limitation with how crazy they can get.
Joining the show as season two’s big baddie is Zoom, otherwise known as Professor Zoom. The show has cast Tony Todd to voice Zoom, but there hasn’t been an announcement on who will actually play the character, as the show will likely leave his identity as one of the main hooks of season two. Producer Andrew Kreisberg told Variety that Todd was cast was because they wanted “to do something like James Earl Jones as Darth Vader — this iconic voice coming out of this mask,” as opposed to modulating Tom Cavanagh’s voice like the show did with Reverse Flash.
Like West, the show is doing a spin on Professor Zoom’s comic storyline, diverging from the comics in which Eobard Thawne is the antagonist. With no real news on what role Cavanagh will be playing, I’d expect some version of Thawne to be Zoom, but the possibilities are really endless.
Season two will also introduce Patty Spivot played by Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill) as Joe West’s new police partner and a possible love interest for Barry. The show may also introduce villains Mirror Master and Doctor Alchemy.
With the additions to the cast, both heroes and villains, we can be assured season two of The Flash is going to be bananas in the best possible way. The season finale gave us an idea of how producers may use the more sci-fi elements from the comics, and the show will likely embrace them even more. Who doesn’t love that?
