The following contains spoilers for The Flash Season 9, airing new episodes Wednesdays on The CW.
After years of fans hoping he may one day show up, an iconic villain for the Scarlet Speedster is joining The Flash for The CW show's final season.
Photos captured by Canadagraphs (via Twitter) from the set of The Flash Season 9 reveal that the show is finally adapting Cobalt Blue, a Flash villain created by writer Mark Waid and artist Brian Augustyn in 1997's Speed Force #1. The Flash Season 8 teased Cobalt Blue's arrival, and the new images show off the villain's navy-and-white suit featuring a large blue gem on the chest. The costume appears to be worn by both a stunt double and actor Rick Cosnett. Since he debuted as Eddie Thawne in The Flash's first season, fans have long imagined Cosnett stepping into Cobalt Blue's boots to take on actor Grant Gustin's Flash.
Who Is Cobalt Blue, the Flash's Villainous Twin Brother?
In comics, Cobalt Blue/Malcolm Thawne is the lost twin brother of Flash Barry Allen and was raised by Hugo and Charlene Thawne, making him an ancestor for Eobard Thawne, AKA the Reverse Flash. Similarly in The Flash show, Eddie Thawne is also Eobard's ancestor, leading to his death in the Season 1 finale. To stop the Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh/Matt Letscher) from killing Barry and the rest of Team Flash, Eddie shoots himself so that Thawne will be erased from existence -- which doesn't last forever. Eddie was a police detective engaged to Barry's future wife in the show, Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), and not confirmed to be a lost twin of the hero, however.
In early Feb. 2023, it was announced that Cosnett would be returning to The Flash for the show's final season, along with Letscher and Nora West-Allen actor Jessica Parker Kennedy. They will not be the only familiar faces back though, being that the speedsters Flash Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp), Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale) and Zoom (Teddy Sears) are set to appear as well. From Arrow, the original CW superhero show that The Flash spun out of, actors Stephen Amell and David Ramsey will reprise their respective roles as Green Arrow/Oliver Queen and Spartan/John Diggle.
The Flash Adapts an Evil Batman, Red Death
Cobalt Blue is not the only new villain that Barry must face in Season 9. Along with a different Captain Boomerang played by actor Richard Harmon, the show is adapting the Red Death, a twisted speedster from DC Comics' Dark Nights: Metal event mashing up the Flash and an evil version of Batman Bruce Wayne. Originally teased in The Flash Season 5, Red Death debuts in Season 9, the character changed to being a version of actor Javicia Leslie's Batwoman instead.
New episodes of The Flash Season 9 air Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. EST on The CW, available to stream the following day on The CW App. The show's first eight seasons are now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Canadagraphs via Twitter