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The Flash Season 8 Casts MCU Star As New Villain Despero

The Flash has cast its next major villain. Deadline has revealed that the long-running CW series has hired Your Honor and Ray Donovan star Tony Curran to play Despero, an extraterrestrial enemy who will factor into season 8 - which is filming now - in a big way.

The Flash has cast its next major villain. Deadline has revealed that the long-running CW series has hired Your Honor and Ray Donovan star Tony Curran to play Despero, an extraterrestrial enemy who will factor into season 8—which is filming now—in a big way.

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The character is described as “a powerful and intelligent alien possessing incredible telepathic powers who left his homeworld—Kalanor—under mysterious circumstances.” Despero is now “facing a deadly mission on Earth, one whose outcome will decide the fate of humankind and put him on a collision course with Team Flash.”

Despero had the honor of making his comic book debut in the very first issue of Justice League of America in 1960, as created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. Typically hellbent on conquering the universe, the villain has continued to battle DC’s finest over the decades, as well as being a recurring foe to the Green Lantern Corps and Martian Manhunter.

Scottish native Curran is no stranger to comic book adaptations. He played the Invisible Man in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Priest in Blade II, and he had a small role in X-Men: First Class. Not to mention that he’s portrayed two separate characters in the MCU. Curran cameoed as Bor, father of Odin, in Thor: The Dark World, and he also featured as Finn Cooley in Daredevil season 2. Now, the star has finally found himself a role in the DC universe.

Season 8 will kick off with a special five-part event titled “Armageddon”, which will sport guest spots from various Arrowverse stars—including Javicia Leslie (Batwoman), Cress Williams (Black Lightning), Brandon Routh (Atom), Chyler Leigh (Sentinel), and Kat McNamara (Mia Queen). It’s very likely that Curran’s Despero will be the big bad of “Armageddon,” which will also involve Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh) and Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough).

The Flash season 8 kicks off on The CW on Nov. 16.