The Flash season 5 had its plusses, but one way that the most recent run of the DC show let fans down was with its big bad. Unfortunately, Cicada just didn’t measure up to previous powerful villains like Reverse-Flash and Zoom. So, season 6 needs to feature a new antagonist who could really reinvigorate the series and prove a huge threat to Grant Gustin’s Scarlet Speedster. On that note, who could be a better choice than the Red Death?
Ordinarily, we’d never entertain the idea that this recent addition to the comics would appear on the show, but the character was directly name-dropped in an episode of season 5. The Flash has always referenced its next big bads before they arrived so fans are keeping their fingers crossed that this is what’s happening here, too.
But who is the Red Death and why is he such an exciting prospect? Well, the Red Death, from the Dark Knights: Metal comic event, is actually a corrupted alternate version of Bruce Wayne. Deciding he needed super-speed to wipe out Gotham’s criminal element, this alt-Batman performed a dangerous Speed Force experiment that merged him with the Flash.
Assuming for a moment that the Red Death is indeed coming to The Flash though, who could play him? Some epic fan art from Instagram user Subi.ozil makes a pretty smart casting choice: The Vampire Diaries’ Paul Wesley. The star – who also played Lex Luthor’s brother Lucas on Smallville – certainly looks the part in the villain’s red and black outfit and we certainly wouldn’t object if he was cast.
EP Todd Hellbing has hinted that the show has further plans for the Red Death, but season 5 also introduced a couple of other options for season 6’s big bad. Another evil speedster Godspeed appeared in a memorable one-off role, while a second Mirror Master was alluded to in another episode.
We’ll just have to wait and see who the STAR Labs gang will be facing next in The Flash season 6, returning this fall to The CW, but in the meantime, let us know what you think of Wesley as the Red Death by dropping a comment down below.
