Flash

Is The Flash S4 Adding Elongated Man?

Ever since TVLine hinted at The Flash adding a DC Comics character that would require a lot of CGI, fans have speculated that Elongated Man might be showing up. Now it seems That Hashtag Show has confirmed the news today with a trio of casting calls describing the major players in season 4. Let’s consider it a rumor for now until the CW makes it official, but the descriptions are mighty interesting.

Elongated Man, also known as Plastic Man in his later iterations, was Barry’s Silver Age best friend and a one-time Justice League of America member. Ralph Dibny’s casting call can be found below:

“[RALPH DIBNY AKA ELONGATED MAN]Male, Mid to late 30s, Open Ethnicity. Think Ryan Reynolds or Chris Pratt, Ralph has the ability to stretch his body to super-human lengths and sizes…however, while resculpting his old body is easy to do, Dibny finds losing the old misguided sense of truth and slobbery, even after joining the team at S.T.A.R. Labs, is a far more difficult task to accomplish. MAJOR RECURRING GUEST STAR WITH A SERIES REGULAR OPTION FOR NEXT SEASON”

From this we can decipher that STAR Labs will still be around, and it sounds like Ralph is a bit of an antihero rather than a golden boy or a stickler for the rules. Here’s hoping we get to see life outside the lab this season, though. And perhaps we will with the next two characters:

“[CLIFFORD DEVOE AKA THE THINKER]Male, 40s-50, Open Ethnicity. After being struck with dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion, Clifford Devoe became a meta-human with a mega-mind. A Stephen Hawking-esque genius who’s devised an intricate plan to fix all that he deems wrong with humanity. “The Thinker” will embark upon a season long battle with The Flash that pins the “fastest man alive” against the “fastest mind alive.” FRACTIONAL (7/13) ONE SEASON SERIES REGULAR

The original Thinker isn’t a metahuman, but this confirms that he will be focused on using his mind to defeat the Flash rather than the usual set of powers. And in this version, it seems he is physically incapacitated in some way and has a right-hand man for help:

[THE MECHANIC]Female, 30s-40, Diverse. A highly intelligent engineer who designs and assembles a plethora of devices for the ailing Clifford Devoe. Devoe’s right hand, she’s the truest of true-believers who’ll stop at nothing to implement his plan to fix all that’s wrong with humanity-even if she loses who she is in the process. MAJOR RECURRING GUEST STAR”

 The very first things that jump out at me are the words “female” and “diverse.” The Flash rarely has major female villains, and they’ve never had one who wasn’t in some way also a victim, so I can’t wait to see what they do with her. Also, having “diverse” instead of “open” suggests that she’s meant to be a woman of color. Sounds like the Mechanic will be a loyal and brilliant Tess Mercer type. And most likely a original character for the show.
Who would you like to see play Elongated Man, The Thinker and The Mechanic? Hettienne Park is free, so I’m just throwing her name into the ring for the last one. Let us know your choices in the comments below!