Leonard Snart may have cooled things down on tonight’s episode of The Flash, but if that ending is any indication, things are going to be heating up quite soon. After stealing the Kahndaq Diamond and sparing Flash’s life after Cisco threatened with a “prototype cold gun” (it was just a vacuum cleaner with LED lights), Snart headed to parts unknown to meet up with his former partner. Acknowledging that their last heist didn’t go well, Snart tells the man, who has a penchant for matches, that things have changed in Central City, and to keep working in Central City, he’ll need a new crew. Snart then pulls out the heat gun that he waved away earlier in the episode and offers it to his associate, pointing out the man’s love for fire. Finally, he asks “So, are you in, Mick, or are you out?” Mick is all too eager to comply and accepts the juiced-up flamethrower.
While non-comic book readers may have been left puzzled by the cliffhanger, Flash fans knew all to well who this pyromaniac is: Mick Rory, a.k.a. Heat Wave, one of the Flash’s greatest villains. Heat Wave has been fighting Flash in the comics since 1963, and as the same suggests, he uses fire as his main weapon against his adversary. It was announced last month that Dominic Purcell had been cast as Mick Rory, and that he would reunite with his Prison Break costar Wentworth Miller.
The original announcement said that Rory would be teaming up with Snart in The Flash episode 10, and that he would be “heard from” in tonight’s episode “Going Rogue.” After what viewers just saw, being “heard from” is clearly an understatement. Good thing Snart has the cold gun just in case Rory gets out of hand with the flames.
However, Mick’s introduction is more than just establishing a new villain. Like Snart stated, he needs a new type of crew, and although he didn’t outright say it, this crew is going to need unique weaponry to take on Flash. This “crew” is the first hint that The Rogues are coming! For those not familiar, The Rogues are a group of Flash villains that regularly team up to fight the Scarlet Speedster and pull off heists. So far in the series we’ve only seen villains working by themselves, but when Snart organizes The Rogues, Barry is going to face a new world of trouble. Taking on one villain is bad enough, but a coordinated group of them is way worse. Several Rogues from the comics have already been cast for either The Flash or Arrow, like Captain Boomerange and the Pied Piper, so when their solo ventures fail, don’t be surprised if Captain Cold shows up to recruit them into his new club.
You can catch new episodes of The Flash on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET.
