Last month, it was announced that Mark Hamill would be joining the world of The Flash to reprise his role as James Jesse, a.k.a the gag-obsessed supervillain Trickster, the same character he played in the original 1990 Flash TV series. The description of this new version of James said that he would be assisting Barry Allen and Joe West in tracking down a wannabe Trickster who is carrying out attacks across Central City. We’ve known who the original has been for over a month, and now it’s been announced who will be trying to fill The Trickster’s shoes later this season. Devin Graye has been signed on to The Flash for the big role.
Comicbook.com is reporting Graye has been cast as Axel, the copycat Trickster, for Episode 17. The good news? This actor already has experience being bad. Graye is most known for playing the teenage Dexter Morgan in the Showtime series Dexter, and has also appeared on shows like Alphas and American Horror Story: Asylum. Although no other details were provided about Axel, it will be his chaotic activities that lead James to assist the authorities, Hannibal Lecter-style.
Although the article doesn’t give a last name, it’s a likely bet that Axel’s last name will be Walker, like it is in the comics. Axel was introduced in 2002 by writer Geoff Johns, one of the executive producers on the series. When James started working for the FBI, Axel stole the original’s costume and gag weapons and started committing crimes as the new Trickster. James eventually took back the identity, but when he was killed several years later, Axel went back to being The Trickster and continues to use the identity in the New 52.
Despite Hamill playing the original Trickster, I’m willing to bet that it will be Graye’s Axel that will end up joining Flash’s team of enemies The Rogues. Given that The Flash’s version of James Jesse is described as an “anarchist terrorist con man,” I don’t see him working well with the other Rogues, who are primarily concerned about getting that big score. Axel may be trying to emulate James’ M.O., but I can see him eventually seeking tutorage under Captain Cold and the other villains, learning both how to pull off successful heists and how to appropriately deal with that pesky Scarlet Speedster. Let’s also hope that neither Axel nor James is killed off in Episode 16. It would make an interesting dynamic for the series to have two people committing crimes using the same name.
The Flash returns from its hiatus next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on the CW with the episode “Revenge of the Rogues.”
