The Flash still has a few months of hiatus left before it returns this fall, but we already know some of what's to come in the new season. The new villain will be a different kind of threat than what Team Flash is used to. Luckily, a new superhero will be on the scene to help them out. In a nice change from what we're used to, this new hero won't be a speedster! No, the new guy will be none other than Elongated Man.
Producers are reportedly looking for a Ryan Reynolds/Chris Pratt type to play Ralph Dibny, a.k.a. Elongated Man. The ideal candidate will be a man of any ethnicity in his mid- to late-30s who can pull off a comic relief role, according to That Hashtag Show. The character will be recurring throughout Season 4 with the potential to return in Season 5. This version of Elongated Man will be able to change the shape of his body in some wild ways, although he won't find it nearly as easy to change the way he does things.
The Elongated Man of DC Comics lore wasn't actually a metahuman. As a child, he was so fascinated by contortionists that he studied chemistry and developed a super-concentrated version of what the contortionists drank to achieve their feats. By drinking this liquid, he gained the power of elasticity, which he would ultimately use to fight crime and capture criminals. He was also a self-trained detective who liked to solve mysteries. Although he faced his fair share of tragedy when his wife died, he was a fun character. He was also a frequent ally of the Barry Allan incarnation of the Flash. In fact, Elongated Man's very first appearance in DC Comics came in an issue of The Flash back in 1960.
Not much is known about the Elongated Man who will appear in The Flash Season 4, although the odds are good that his origin story is quite different from his story in the comics. Ralph Dibny was actually mentioned back in Season 1 as one of the citizens of Central City who died in the particle accelerator disaster, so we can bet that he got his powers the same way that Barry did. Even if he was studying contortionists with the hope of developing a serum, my money is on Elongated Man as a metahuman.
Personally, I'm hoping that Elongated Man has already given himself a superhero name by the time he meets Team Flash. Cisco should surely be able to come up with something more creative than the extremely literal "Elongated Man." Then again, things in Team Flash will be quite different when the action picks in Season 4. We may even have a different speedster wearing the Flash suit. Maybe Cisco lost his sense of whimsy when Barry entered the Speed Force in the Season 3 finale.
Only time will tell. Our list of what we know so far about The Flash Season 4 can let you in on what has been revealed to date, and our summer TV guide can point you toward what you can watch while we wait for The Flash to return.
