The Flash’s Zoom Finds His Voice in ‘Candyman’s’ Tony Todd

We learned at Comic-Con that “Zoom is Coming” to Central City among many other speedsters including Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale), Jay Garrick (Teddy Series), and Jesse Chambers (Violet Beane).

Variety announced that today that Zoom will be making his debut on The Flash in episode two “Flash of Two Worlds,” and that “Candyman” star Tony Todd will be providing the voice of the villainous speedster. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed, “We wanted to do something like James Earl Jones as Darth Vader.” This is a contrast to season one where Tom Cavanagh donned the Reverse-Flash’s costume as well as providing the voice, which was modulated in post-production.  

“In a way, it’s hard to tell if it is a suit or alive,” Kreisberg describes Zoom’s suit even comparing it to Marvel’s Venom – Spider-man’s iconic villain. The Venom comparison is interesting because it almost sounds like the Black Flash – death personified for speedsters or anyone connected to the speed force. Two stories come to mind with the Black Flash front and center.

The first is Geoff Johns’ 2009 comic book run Blackest Night. Eobard Thwane is resurrected by the power of the Black Lantern Ring and even bears some resemblance to the symbiotic villain.

Despite the numerous Green Lantern Easter eggs, or even the theory that Barry will get a Blue Lantern ring. It’s highly unlikely that the Green Lantern or any of the other Lantern Corps will show up in the DC Comics shared TV universe… at least for now. But the idea that one of the Thawnes could be resurrected is distinct possibility thanks to Arrow and the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow. Could this explain Cavanagh’s presence in season two or even signal the return of Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne?

It’s interesting to note that Barry also seems to have gained a blue streak in the video below.

In Johns’ 2009 Rebirth story, Barry becomes the Black Flash and several speedsters are brought in to help him including Wally, Jay, and Jesse. The main villain of the story is also Professor Zoom. With all of these characters being introduced this season, could this be the cause for Barry’s blue electricity?

Last season saw hints of the Flashpoint storyline and this season could see combined elements of the two stories above among many others, and it sounds like they may be planning to deviate from the comics. Kresiberg told Variety, “The story of Zoom and who and what he is… hopefully comic book fans will be happy because we’ve come up with a clever way to spin the tale.” In any case, pairing Todd’s voice with a monster-esque costume is going to make Zoom’s presence menacing, if not horrifying like Candyman.

So, who do you think is behind Zoom’s mask? Is it a character from season one or will they be introduced in season two? Sound off in the comments.

Season two of The Flash premieres on The CW Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m.

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The writer of this piece is: Laurence Almalvez
Laurence has previously written over at Whatculture.com.
Laurence tweets from @IL1511

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