When The Flash returns with new episodes in October, there will be a lot of new characters appearing in Central City. During the show's panel at San Diego Comic-Con, The Flash’s cast and crew announced some of the fresh faces that will be seen alongside the principal players, including a terrifying new baddie, a new love interest and a fan favorite hero from the Flash mythos. Let’s take a look at the newbies.
Eobard Thawne may be gone, but another yellow-garbed enemy is taking his place. Season 2’s main antagonist will be Zoom, who is described as being faster than both Flash and Reverse-Flash. Here's a visual reminder of what he looks like.
While executive producer Andrew Kriesberg was hesitant to reveal what other villains are heading our way next season, he did tease what the fans can expect from Zoom. In his words:
We've got a couple villains we don't want to share, yet. We're really excited about Zoom, how that presents, the challenges he brings to our characters. He's going to be terrifying and scary, and fast.
Although their uniforms look almost exactly alike, don’t assume that Zoom is a mere knock-off of Reverse-Flash. In the comics, Zoom was Hunter Zolomon, a profiler at the Keystone City Police Department and friend of then-Flash Wally West. After he was crippled during a prison break, Hunter begged Wally to travel back in time to stop the accident, but Wally refused as he didn’t want to damage the space-time continuum. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Zoloman tried to use the Cosmic Treadmill to go back to the past, but the machine malfunctioned and Hunter obtained his own special powers. Unlike Reverse-Flash, Zoom doesn’t run fast, but instead alters time around him to give the appearance of moving quickly.
Another speedster that is officially joining the show is Jay Garrick, who will be played by Masters of Sex’s Teddy Sears. Jay’s winged helmet showed up during the Season 1 finale, and he was rumored to be the handsome, cynical hero identified as John Clark on the casting sheet. Jay is one of the characters that will hail from Earth 2, one of the alternate universes that exist in the show’s multiverse, and we will see his origin unfold.
One Tree Hill’s Shantel VanSanten was also announced as Barry's love interest Patty Spivot. Previously identified by the pseudonym Wendy, Patty has been described as a “spunky, fun and funny” science whiz whose personality is similar to Felicity Smoak’s. She will be introduced in Episode 2 as Joe West’s new partner before chemistry ignites between her and Barry.
Finally, it was confirmed that Wally West will appear in Season 2, though they didn’t say who will be playing him. In the comics, after gaining his own super speed, Wally served as Barry’s sidekick Kid Flash for several decades, and in the pre-New 52 universe became the Flash after Barry died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. It remains to be seen whether this universe’s Wally will be Iris’ nephew like in the comics, or changed to her younger brother or cousin. Heck, maybe like Jay, the Wally we get will actually be from an alternate Earth.
Of course, aside from Rick Cosnett, all of the main cast members will be returning. That includes Tom Cavanagh, though whether he’ll be playing a still-alive Eobard Thawne, the original Harrison Wells, or someone else entirely, remains to be seen. Although no other villains were mentioned during Saturday’s panel, we also know that next season’s evil lineup will include Grodd, Mirror Master and Doctor Alchemy.
The Flash Season 2 will debut on Tuesday, October 6 in its normal timeslot on The CW.
