According to THR, The Flash has just gained an incredible new cast member, as The Shawshank Redemption and Starship Troopers alum Clancy Brown has signed on for a “pivotal” recurring role in the upcoming DC Comics series.
Brown will play General Wade Eiling, a.k.a. The General, and make his debut in the show’s fifth episode. The General will the head of a black ops army team pursuing Plastique (Rake actress Kelly Frye), in hopes of turning her into a human weapon. He’s described as a tall imposing man, with “a face carved from years of duty…. fanatically intent on protecting American interests around the world.”
Apart from pursuing Plastique, The General will also have a ties to a central Flash character, though THR didn’t offer any specifics on who that may be.
In the comics, The General is often portrayed as an Army general who injects himself with a super-soldier serum, and transforms into a strong, hulking brute. At one point General Eiling even tried killing Superman with a nuclear missile strike (being completely content with whatever human casualties it may cause), so even if we don’t see Brown make the transformation into a Hulk-like monstrosity he’ll serve as an excellent antagonist for Barry Allen.
This isn’t Brown’s first foray into comic book adaptations, as he often voiced Lex Luthor in DC animated series like The Batman, Justice League, and Superman, voiced the villainous cloud Parallax in the poorly-received Green Lantern film, and has lent his voice talents to a wide variety of animated programs like Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, among dozens of others. Needless to say, he’ll be a fantastic fit for The Flash series, and with his character’s ties to the Suicide Squad, perhaps he’ll stick around a bit after his business with Plastique (and whoever that mystery “central” character is) is complete.
The Flash is set to premiere on The CW on October 8th, with Grant Gustin (Glee) leading the cast alongside Candice Patton (The Game) as Iris West, Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) as Detective West, Patrick Sabongui (Almost Human) as David Singh, Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th) as Caitlin Snow, Rick Gosnett (The Vampire Diaries) as Eddie Thawne, Broadway star Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon, Michelle Harrison (Emily Owens, MD) as Nora Allen, Tom Cavanagh (Ed) as Harrison Wells, Robbie Amell (The Tomorrow People) as Firestorm, Kelly Frye (Rake) as Plastique, Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) as Captain Cold, Chad Rook (Cult) as Weather Wizard and William Sadler (Iron Man 3) as Simon Stagg. Watch a five minute trailer for the series here.
Originally published August 9, 2014. Updated December 13, 2019.
