It looks like the Rogues have finally met their match. A team of evil metahumans is finally coming together to face off against Barry Allen. Joining them on The Flash is "Deathbolt," also known as Jake Simmons— who is this guy? Fans of The CW's comic book universe have the answer for you already. Deathbolt appeared on Arrow about a month ago and faced off against Ray. The question is now, how will he fit into this universe and on this team?
The character has the power to absorb electric energy, blast plasma from his eyeballs. At the end of his Arrow episode, Ray called on his new friend Cisco to have Jake Simmons secured in The Pipeline at S.T.A.R. Labs. Even though crossover spinoffs are becoming quite popular these days, it's still weird to think of a television character having a life outside of his show... that just happens to be another show.
So, Deathbolt is a metahuman and a villain that got himself jailed in The Flash's city. As for the actor, Doug Jones has been working as a character actor for ages. You may know him as the leader of The Gentlemen from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush," as Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies or as the Fauno in Pan's Labyrinth. As Jake Simmons, we get to see his face without heavy makeup, though that doesn't make him any less threatening.
What will Deathbolt be doing this time around? According to the official description of the episode "Rogue Time" from The CW, this team-up could rival Captain America: Civil War in terms of sheer comic book character numbers.
"As Wells once again gets the upper hand on the S.T.A.R. Labs team, Barry realizes he needs to make a big move and reaches out to an old foe, Captain Cold, for help. Joe and Caitlin warn Barry that Cold can't be trusted. True to form, Cold has his own agenda that involves the meta-humans trapped in the containment cells. As things seem to be going from bad to worse, The Flash gets reinforcements — Arrow and Firestorm."
So it's more of an Azkaban prison-break than a West Side Story rumble. I'm cool with that.
Here's Deathbolt assembled with the group of other metahumans that includes Mark Mardon, Shawna Baez, Kyle Nimbus and Roy G. Bivolo. Look, he's smiling! The construction of this group is fascinating. So far on The Flash, the only team of baddies we've seen is The Rogues, who are decidedly not metahuman. The sibling duo of Lisa and Leonard Snart, along with Mick Rory, are gadget-based villains. If they have come around and are accepting metahuman applicants, this sure will give their gang some oomph.
Pay close attention to who is not an "evil joiner" as well — I'm thinking specifically of Hartley Rathaway, the Pied Piper. Is this because he wasn't imprisoned at S.T.A.R. Labs, or because he's got some good left in his smarmy heart?
One interesting thing about Deathbolt, which serves the current Harrison Wells mystery on The Flash, is that while he is most assuredly a metahuman, he did not get his powers in the particle accelerator explosion. The only other person we know like this is Eobard Thawne himself. I'm glad that The Flash is takings its turn with Jake Simmons, because his origin could be the key to a lot of answers.
Images: Cate Cameron, Dean Buscher/The CW
