'The Flash's New Villain Has A Very Familiar Name

The Flash is not afraid to mess around with its characters. We saw this early on in Season 1, when the series introduced Eddie Thawne and everyone (including myself) had a collective meltdown trying to figure out just who he was, and what connection he had to Eobard Thawne. Then Harrison Wells actually turned out to be Eobard Thawne, and that threw us for a completely new loop. Then all three of the above died. Now with Season 2, The Flash is setting up a whole new villain once again, and I'm already wondering how it will play with the mythology this time. For example, is new villain Zoom the the same person as Professor Zoom?

Though we're only one episode into the the season, The Flash is already establishing the characters who will be important until the end. One of them, of course, is this new big bad, Zoom. This is confusing because last season's villain, Reverse-Flash, has also gone by Professor Zoom in DC Comics. Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg has confirmed that Zoom is the villain Barry will be up against this time around, and told Entertainment Weekly, "We wanted another speedster as a villain, but we wanted to do something slightly different."

So right there, that should be our answer. Zoom and Reverse-Flash/Professor Zoom/Eobard Thawne are two separate people. However, I'm not entirely convinced of that right now. The Flash knows we love surprises, and I wouldn't put it past the show to pull a huge twist before Season 2 ends. Here are a few different places The Flash can take Zoom this season.

Zoom & Professor Zoom Are Different

The show really seems to be stressing that last season there was one villain, and now Barry has a brand new foe. Besides, in the comics there are two completely different characters who go by Professor Zoom and Zoom, with the latter being inspired by the original Professor villain. It's totally possible that even though The Flash Season 1 focused on Professor Zoom, and Season 2 will now switch gears to just Zoom. (Please don't tell him I called him "just Zoom," he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be OK with that nickname.)

Zoom & Professor Zoom Are Totally The Same

Think back to Season 1. We never actually heard Eobard Thawne call himself Professor Zoom, only Reverse-Flash. So technically, The Flash could still go ahead and introduce us to Professor Zoom, in a huge switcharoo. Man, this is already getting confusing and we're not even discussing the time travel implications.

Zoom Is Still A Mystery

Variety reported that Tony Todd will voice Zoom, but The Flash has yet to cast someone to actually play the villain. Anyone else find this a little bit weird? Almost like the show is trying to hid something from us, something like...

Tom Cavanagh Is Still A Series Regular

Last time I checked, Cavanagh was playing Harrison Wells, who is really dead. And Harrison Wells was just the front being used by Eobard Thawne, who is also really dead. Yet, Cavanagh is still part of The Flash' s regular cast.

My insane Flash theory for the week? In Earth-Two, Harrison Wells is still alive, and is Professor Zoom. That would let both Zoom and Professor Zoom be alive and part of The Flash at the same time. Just, you know, in different worlds.

None Of The Above

After the Eddie/Eobard twist in Season 1, we should be on the lookout for The Flash to mix things up with their characters. For new Zoom, they could be taking pieces from both Professor Zoom and "just" Zoom to create one big super villain.

There's a lot The Flash can do with this storyline, and I'm excited to try and wrap my head around every tiny little detail Season 2 brings.

Images: Cate Cameron (4), Diyah Pera, Dean Buscher/The CW