Warning: Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 8
The Arrowverse may have spoiled the identity of Team Flash has no idea who they’re up against or what they want.
For most of the episode, Team Flash and the police acted under the false assumption that the Hotness, a one-time villain from The Flash season 4, was the killer they were looking for. He had a motive for both murders and his fire powers linked him to the charred corpses found at the scene. By the end of the episode, Barry (Grant Gustin) was able to exonerate the Hotness. However, his actions didn’t involve finding the real killer, who remains at large. For now, all they know is that the serial killer is a fire meta whose powers are related to nuclear and cold fusion. The final scene of the episode teased that figuring out who this person will be the next big challenge for Team Flash in season 8.
While Team Flash doesn’t have any leads, audiences may already have a good idea of who this new villain really is. Recently, it was reported that Robbie Amell will be reprising his role as the Ronnie Raymond version of Firestorm in The Flash. He’ll be around for a two-episode arc, beginning with episode 11. Firestorm’s return coinciding with the search for a mystery fire meta makes him the top suspect for the two murders. Not only that, but The Flash mentioned a nuclear fusion connection, which does reflect the nature of Firestorm’s Arrowverse powers.
Considering that Ronnie is a beloved hero who died in the season 2 premiere, he’s obviously not someone who Team Flash will have on their minds as this mystery unfolds in the episodes to come. The same might have been the case for viewers as well – if it wasn’t known that Firestorm was on his way back to the Arrowverse. Though the Crisis supposedly put an end to alternate universe doppelgangers, the Arrowverse shows have continuously found ways to use them. For this reason, an evil Firestorm showing up in Central City isn’t impossible. Another plausible explanation for his arrival is time travel, especially since Bart (Jordan Fisher) and Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) recently created some timeline disturbances and could end up doing so again.
If Firestorm does turn out to be The Flash season 8’s mystery villain, the reveal unfortunately won’t be the massive surprise that it had the potential to be. That being said, the twist could still open up some exciting new questions. Team Flash will naturally want to know how Firestorm came back, why he’s suddenly evil, and if he could somehow be an imposter of some kind. Looking at what he was capable of in the series, an evil Firestorm would most assuredly serve as a challenging adversary for Barry, while also creating some emotional dilemmas for his widow, Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker).
The Flash releases new episodes on Wednesdays on The CW.