'The Flash' Introduces Its Scariest Metahuman Yet

So far this season, Barry Allen has taken on sonic sound, people who burst into flames, turning into metal, and bees, but now he might be facing one of the worst metahumans of all, as The Flash introduces Everyman. This guy's in Central City to cause Barry major trouble, since Everyman is a shapeshifter and can take on the appearance of anyone he meets. Everyman's real name is Hannibal Bates, and many DC Comics fans believe his name is a combination of two of the worst villains in film history: Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. So Barry should really watch his back with this one.In the comics, Hannibal started out as just a regular guy, but after teaming up with superman villain Lex Luthor, he joined the Everyman Project, which was intended to create a bunch of different metahumans (because Lex Luthor wanted to start up his own little villain circle, and if you can't recruit them off the street, might as well start up a whole secret project, right?). The Everyman Project was a failure, though, and many of its participants were killed. But not Hannibal.

Hannibal could now take over the appearance of someone else. This is where he starts to get weird and creepy, and completely embody his namesake. You might think he's able to take on a person's form after looking at someone, or touching them, but nope. Hannibal's way is even worse — he eats a part of them. (Now the first name makes sense, huh?) But he doesn't eat an internal organ of theirs, or even some flesh. Instead, he eats things like toenails and hair. It's not clear if The Flash will keep this particular part of Everyman's character, but it would definitely be hard to watch. When Hannibal becomes someone else, it's impossible to figure out that it's really him. He takes on their voice, and even their DNA too. In the comics, Hannibal once became Hal Jordan, and even the Green Lantern ring couldn't tell that he was an impostor.

Hannibal has also come up against Green Arrow in the comics. There was a stretch of time during which he was sent out to pose as the vigilante, and then fake his death (not cool, Hannibal). This was also just before Oliver and Laurel's wedding, and then Hannibal tried to kill Laurel on her wedding night. SO NOT COOL.

There's also the time Hannibal hooked up with Cupid, and started calling himself the Dark Archer (still in an attempt to kill Green Arrow). In the end, it's actually Cupid who kills Hannibal, and refers to their entire relationship as a "rebound." I feel like Cupid comes up enough on Arrow to warrant her own delightfully twisted spinoff show.

As for what Hannibal's going to do in Central City, the previews for The Flash have already revealed a little bit. In the newest promo, we clearly see Eddie shoot two cops. But that can't be really Eddie, right? Watch the preview below and then hope for the best when "Who is Harrison Wells?" airs on Tuesday night.

Image: Katie Yu/The CW