'The Flash' May Be Saving Firestorm For Later

The Flash, though still only in its first season, is doing a very good job of weaving in a huge supply of DC Comics characters. Some were quickly added only to be written out right away (like Plastique, such a shame), while others have been slowly introduced as we wait for a greater payoff from them. One of these characters is Ronnie Raymond, also known as Firestorm. He was presumed dead, but we know that's far from the truth — or, at least he's not all dead. When The Flash returns with "Revenge of the Rogues," will Ronnie be back too?

Considering The Flash is returning after its huge winter finale and short hiatus, it would make sense to start off with a big Firestorm ball of fire. But not so fast — pun intended. The Flash has plans for Firestorm, but they're not going to rush it — and that pun was also intended, too.

It was believed that Ronnie died in the particle accelerator meltdown at S.T.A.R. Labs, but as we learned right alongside Caitlin Snow — his former fiancée — he is very much alive and something completely different. Caitlin finds him, and tries to bring him in to the Lab, but he won't go with her willingly. Ronnie does, however, show up in his fire form just in the nick of time to stop Reverse-Flash from totally pummeling Barry in "The Man In The Yellow Suit." Oh, also Ronnie can supposedly fly with his fire-power. That's pretty cool.

Ronnie/Firestorm (even though Cisco hasn't nicknamed him that just yet) is gearing up for bigger things to come. So far, all the metahumans introduced on the show have simply been of the "metahuman of the week" category, but it seems like Ronnie won't be a a part of that.

See, one of the things about Firestorm is that he's actually two people — really. The show hasn't shown us any indication of this aspect yet, but they have gone ahead and cast the second half of Firestorm, Dr. Martin Stein. And as TVLine reported, Stein is going to be played by the much beloved Victor Garber, of former Alias fame, and is slated to make his first appearance in Episode 12, which is still a few weeks away. Between his past with Caitlin, his new powers, and sharing a body with Dr. Stein, that's just too much Firestorm potential to contain in one episode. And since "Revenge of the Rogues" is already set to feature Captain Cold and Heat Wave, there just may not be enough room for another character.

Even though Firestorm — or Ronnie, for that matter — won't be popping up in the first episode back from hiatus, that's perfectly fine. We, just like Caitlin, know that he's still out there, somewhere, and eventually our paths will cross again. You can't keep a good, yet slightly disgruntled, metahuman down.

Image: Cate Cameron/The CW