The Flash appears to have opened the floodgates.  Oh sure, plenty of DC characters have made their way through Starling City over on big brother series ‘Arrow’, but none of them could fly!  The Flash has introduced the concept of super powers and this week’s episode ‘The Nuclear Man’ takes it even further, with the full-blown introduction of Firestorm.

The character has appeared briefly before and is a fusion of Cailtin Snow’s finacé Ronnie Raymond (played by Robbie Amell) and Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber).

Here is the episode’s synopsis:

“After Ronnie (guest star Robbie Amell) attacks a physicist (guest star Bill Dow), Barry and the team realize they need to go after Caitlin’s fiancé who is now a dangerous meta-human. They deduce the best way to track Ronnie is to find Dr. Martin Stein (guest star Victor Garber) who was working on a project called F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. Barry struggles to balance his duties as The Flash and his relationship with Linda Park (guest star Malese Jow), and Joe enlists Cisco’s help to reinvestigate the murder of Nora Allen (guest star Michelle Harrison). General Eiling returns to Central City.”

You can also check out this behind the scenes video which gives more insight into Firestorm and his role in this universe:

Firestorm has evolved many times over the years, but this is the most recognizable version.  The character was created by writer Gerry Conway as a response to Marvel’s Spider-Man, a high school science nerd who gains incredible powers.  Conway’s Firestorm was Ronnie Raymond a “dumb jock” football player, who was too dumb to understand how to use his powers– the ability to manipulate atoms to change one element or compound into another.  Luckily, in true atomic fashion, Ronnie was fused with his physics teacher Martin Stein, who telepathically guided him and instructed him on how to use his abilities.

The comic book Felicity Smoak is a far cry from the TV version.

The second most famous version was prodigy Jason Rusch, who eventually began to merge with Ronnie to form the flame-haired hero.  The character of Rusch has already appeared on ‘The Flash’ in association with the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project.

In an interesting twist, Caitlin Snow is Ronnie’s fiancée on ‘The Flash’ but in the comics, she’s the super villain Killer Frost.  Meanwhile, the ‘Arrow’ character, Felicity Smoak was originally a ‘Firestorm’ character in the comics.  The comic Felicity was the owner of a software company that initially had an antagonistic relationship, until she married Ronnie’s father.  A FAR cry from the mousy, youthful computer whiz that serves as a supporting character on both shows.

Don’t forget, Professor Wells rattled off a list of people “killed” the night the particle accelerator exploded, but if Ronnie survived, why couldn’t the others?  Who would you like to see?  Elongated Man?  Damage?  Atom Smasher?  Fire?  Someone else?

‘The Nuclear Man’ airs at 8 pm, Tuesday February 10th.

Source: Coming Soon