In this weekend’s New York Comic Con sizzle reel for the second season of The CW’s The Flash, we got a quick look at actor Victor Garber, enveloped in a blue flame and looking like he was in pain, or terrified, or both.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Tonight on The Flash, we saw him having some trouble that seemed likely related to the loss of his partner Ronnie Raymond and the “death” of Firestorm.
There was some blue flame which, considering the prevalence of blue energy in Zoom’s speed force and in the breaches into the multiverse, could be construed as some kind of corrosive energy…
…or it could be something worse.
During 2010’s Blackest Night event, the then-dead Ronnie Raymond came “back to life” as a member of the Black Lantern Corps and waged war on humankind alongside his fellow Black Lanterns.
Interestingly for this conversation, Firestorm’s flames presented themselves as being blue/black as Deathstorm.
Upon encountering the new Firestorm, Jason Rusch, Black Lantern Ronnie attacked his girlfriend. Jason tried to pull Black Lantern Firestorm away from her, only to end up fusing with him. Ronnie, who didn’t have the scientific knowledge required to use Firestorm’s transmutation powers without help, used Jason’s captive mind to turn the Deathstorm form into a deadly, evil version of Firestorm’s worst self.
Later, Deathstorm would separate himself from both Ronnie and Jason and come back as the first Black Lantern to rise on his own, without his former “self.” He would recur as a threat for a long while. He explains later that he’s kind of death personified, filtered through the Firestorm matrix.
In the post-Flashpoint universe, Professor Stein was Deathstorm. Born on Earth-3, he was contracted to battle the Crime Syndicate, a brutal, alternate-Earth version of the Justice League, but instead experimented on himself, transforming himself into the being.
How could they twist the story for the TV show? Could he be haunted by “echoes” of Ronnie Raymond, or could he have been experimenting on himself to try and restore the Firestorm matrix since Ronnie’s disappearance?
We’ll see soon, as it seems we’ll be picking up from Stein’s feinting spell next week. The Flash airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
