The Flash has already paid homage to the short-lived CBS series from the 1990s in casting its star John Wesley Shipp as the father of Barry Allen. Now, the CW series is staging an even bigger nod to the original show, by bringing back Mark Hamill (yes, that Mark Hamill) as the zany supervillain known as the Trickster.
The Trickster, a.k.a. James Jesse, was perhaps the most memorable villain of the original Flash series, thanks in no small part to Hamill’s off-the-wall performance. In fact, his Joker-esque portrayal of the Rogues member landed him the voice acting role of the actual Clown Prince of Crime, beginning with Batman: The Animated Series and stretching on into other shows, direct-to-DVD films, Justice League cartoons and video games like Arkham Asylum and its sequel, Arkham City.Â
Hamill will return as the Trickster in The Flash‘s seventeenth episode, which will air sometime in 2015. He presumably won’t be coming face-to-face with the scarlet speedster on the streets of Central City, however, as his role comes with a little twist. Here’s the character description, courtesy of HitFix:
“Mark Hamill returns in a brand new interpretation of James Jesse (aka The Trickster), a role he originated on the 90’s ‘Flash’ series. In this new iteration, The Trickster is an anarchist terrorist con man serving a life sentence in Iron Heights who helps Barry (Grant Gustin) and Det. West (Jesse L. Martin) to foil the city-wide attacks of a wannabe Trickster eagerly following in the original’s deadly footsteps.  The episode will reunite him with John Wesley Shipp who went up against him as the original ‘Flash’ on the CBS version.”
The Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg is excited about getting a star like Hamill on the series, and explains that this move was on their wishlist from the beginning:
“Having Mark reprise his role as The Trickster was on our original wish list when we were planning our version of The Flash. Christmas and Chanukah came early for us this year when he said yes! We are beyond humbled and excited to have him joining us for another round of deadly trickery!”
Seeing the Trickster on the small screen again was on our wishlist for the series as well, so needless to say this is something we’ll be looking forward to when the show returns from its winter hiatus next year.
The Flash airs on Tuesday nights on The CW at 8 p.m.
