'The Flash' Introduces 1 Of Its Strangest Villains

During this week's episode of The Flash, "The Fury of Firestorm," Patty Spviott is trying to get close to Barry Allen by asking him to help her with a case. It's a weird one, and all she has to go on while chasing this new metahuman is a shark's tooth. That's it. Barry makes a few jokes about a "Land Shark" — don't worry, Barry, I laughed even though Patty didn't — and it just seems like a running joke through the episode. That is, until the last few seconds, when Barry is attacked by a shark man of some kind, who it turns out is literally a giant, talking, land-living shark. Say what?

We'd already met Henry Hewitt, but since having only one villain in an episode isn't enough for The Flash, during its final seconds, it seems we were introduced to DC Comics' King Shark. Anyone else see this coming? No? No one expected Barry to actually get attacked by a giant shark walking on two feet? But like, a giant shark. Bigger that Grodd.

Patty happens to be nearby, and fires an entire round of bullets at the shark. It doesn't work, and it looks like he's going to bite off Barry's head (in a land shark attack, if you will). Thankfully, before that can happen, the shark is shot with something that kinda looks like Captain Cold's freeze ray. I thought it was Captain Cold at first, but it's not. It's Harrison Wells from Earth-2 with a suspiciously large gun that can stun giant walking sharks. If you think you're having a tough time processing this, just consider what Barry might be feeling.

While Wells shoots the shark, he doesn't kill him. The villain staggers away to parts unknown of Central City. This means that more than likely, we're gong to see him again. In the comics, there are two different origin stories for King Shark. In one he grows up in Hawaii, while in the other where he becomes a metahuman after an experiment that goes bad. That's probably the one we're going to see play out on The Flash if/when King Shark ever returns to the screen. But seriously, what was he doing when the particle accelerator exploded to turn into a giant shark?

Image: Cate Cameron /The CW