Last season on The Flash, viewers spent some time with Cisco Ramon’s family, specifically his brother Dante, the talented pianist. Since Cisco’s been so busy with his S.T.A.R. Labs job, learning about his abilities and going on Earth-2 adventures, we haven’t had the chance to explore the rest of Cisco’s family in Season 2. However, with eight episodes left, we may get to see one of Cisco’s siblings walk down the villainous path.
Leaked photos from The Flash set in Vancouver show a new character wearing a crimson and black costume and a mask, and is equipped with a long staff. Fans online are speculating that this is Rupture, who in the comics is Cisco’s other brother, Armando. With Episode 16 dealing with Trajectory and Episode 17 seeing the return of the Pied Piper, that means that this particular character, whether they’re Rupture or someone else, will appear in Episode 18 at the earliest. You can check out the character for yourself on the Canadagraphs Twitter account to make the proper guess.
In the New 52 universe, Armando was believed to have died during Darkseid’s invasion of Earth, but years later during the Vibe solo series, he was revealed to have survived. Like Cisco, Armando gained his powers after being caught in a Boom Tube, and his abilities included crossing dimensions, flying and shooting/draining energy. Unfortunately, rather than use his powers for good, Rupture became a force of terror under the service of someone more powerful. When he eventually came back to Earth after a dimensional block was lifted, he tried to kidnap Gyspy, another inter-dimensional traveler, and this brought him into conflict with Cisco, who was Vibe at that point.
Assuming that this character is Rupture and part of the Ramon family, will this still be Armando, or will The Flash just use Dante to keep things simple? Dante didn’t demonstrate any metahuman abilities when we met him, but perhaps he’s a late bloomer. It wouldn’t be the first time a member of the Ramon family found out they had powers long after the particle accelerator explosion. Another possibility is that he’s using advanced technology to power himself.
Then there’s the question of whether Rupture comes from Earth-1 or Earth-2. We met Cisco’s Earth-2 self, a.k.a. Reverb, in “Welcome to Earth-2,” and while he met his demise after defying Zoom, he may also have a brother who’s just as bad as he is. Currently all the breaches into Earth-2 have been shut, but with Barry set on saving Jay Garrick from Zoom, and the demonic speedster eager to get back to Earth-1, perhaps a new breach will be opened to allow Rupture (or whoever he is) to come through and cause trouble on Earth-1.
The Flash returns with new episodes on Tuesday, March 22 at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
