Thank goodness he’s not another speedster! It looks like on this season of ‘The Flash’, the villains are all about brains over brawn. The series Big Bad this year is The Thinker/Clifford DeVoe, played by Neil Sandilands, but he’ll be getting some assistance for the second batch of new episodes, which kick off in January. But as a teaser, Barry’s latest foe, Brainstorm is making his way to Central City for next week’s mid-season finale.
Kendrick Sampson has won the role of this newest rogue. Sampson is a CW vet, having appeared on ‘The Vampire Diaries’ as Jesse and more recently on ‘Supernatural’. He has also had ongoing roles on ‘Relationship Status’ which is available on Verizon’s Go90 streaming service, Showtime’s ‘Californication’ spin-off ‘White Famous’, ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ and the miniseries ‘Gracepoint’, an American adaptation of the British series ‘Broadchurch’.
Brainstorm starts off as normal TSA agent Dominic Lanse, who develops the ability to read people’s minds. He is likely the product of The Thinker’s machinations.
In the comics, Brain Storm is spelled as two words but the TV version is a single word, “Brainstorm.” The original comic book character was really named Axel Storm and wore that snappy helmet you see at the top of this page. Sadly, I’m pretty sure the producers will go with something less outlandish. Axel Storm’s helmet allowed him to channel the power of stars to create anything he envisioned. He was mainly a foe to the entire Justice League, not just The Flash. Dominic Lanse was introduced as the modern Brain Storm in DC’s New 52 reboot.
Sampson is signed on for several episodes so he won’t be just another villain of the week. He pops up on ‘The Flash”s midseason finale on Tuesday December 5th. The series returns on January 16th.
