Since The Flash's second season premiere quickly brought an end to Barry's sad, solo Central City defense mission and reunited the team, it's time to get back to business as usual. Tuesday's episode will bring a new metahuman to Central City, and he's not from around these parts. According to the CW's trailer for this week's episode of The Flash , Sand Demon hails from the same timeline as Jay Garrick and is an enthusiastic henchman of Zoom, the big bad of Season 2. "Zoom sent me here to kill you," Sand Demon announces to Barry before knocking him to the ground with a cloud of the gritty stuff. He controls sand, obviously. (As put out as Cisco is to learn that Sand Demon doesn't need his naming treatment, the one he's got is pretty apt.) Besides that power, what else do you need to know about Sand Demon?
The metahuman has a short but memorable history in DC comic book lore. But in the text, he actually doesn't run up against the Flash. So though the character is established, the show is breaking new ground in terms of how this hero will deal with this villain. What else do fans of the TV series need to know about Sand Demon? Watch the promo for Tuesday's episode below and then catch up on the basics.
His Alter-Ego Is Eddie Slick
Eddie Slick was introduced to the DC universe in The Fury Of Firestorm series in 1986. The low-level crook becomes a boxing manager, and uses illegal mutant steroids to give his fighters an advantage in the ring. No word yet on whether his criminal past is transferred to The Flash, though the Eddie glimpsed in the trailer does seem like a squirrely type.
He Develops His Powers After Being Buried Alive
There are tiers of gangsters above Eddie Slick, and they're all on his case when his overuse of the steroid with wrestler King Crusher ends up bringing the mafia's drug ring and other unsavory activities to light. In retaliation, they bury him alive in the Nevada Desert, but his brush with Firestorm enables him to become sand. He survives, and from that point forward is able to control the stuff at will, using sand as a weapon to fight his enemies.
Firestorm Is His Nemesis, Not The Flash
It's Firestorm who brings Slick's steroid pushing to light, setting a rivalry into motion, even though Firestorm effectively saved his enemy's life. There's no evidence that Sand Demon will meet Firestorm on the CW; though, if he survives this battle with Team Flash he may make the jump to Legends Of Tomorrow in the future. For now, he seems like a one-off villain, not a recurring threat.
He Looks Remarkably Like Martin Stein
In the comics, Sand Demon is a dead ringer for Martin Stein. Posing as the missing half of Firestorm, Slick lures Ronnie Raymond to the desert where he obtains his powers and nearly bests him. The show sidestepped this characteristic of Sand Demon, leaving Dr. Stein's identity safe in his own hands.
Sand Demon doesn't have the lengthy comic career of other DC villains, so there's tons of room for The Flash to reinterpret this character.
Images: Cate Cameron/The CW; Giphy (3); mythirdparent/Tumblr
