The Flash season 8 explained: Who is Deathstorm?

The Flash season 8 pulled the rug out from under its viewers with a major reveal. Who is Deathstorm and what does he want?

Caitlin Snow just can’t catch a break. The character was first introduced into the Arrowverse as a grieving widow who had only just recently lost her husband, Ronnie Raymond, by the time that The Flash started. However, over the course of season 1, she would get him back only to lose him again, as Robbie Amell’s recently-turned superhero sacrificed himself to save Central City from the singularity.

While Caitlin has remained both an important part of Team Flash and a hero in the seven years since, the character has been all too familiar with grief and heartache as she has lost more loved ones and only occasionally found happiness.

*** Contains spoilers from The Flash season 8, episode 11 ***

This season, however, we were all shocked to learn that the villainous Black Flame that had been haunting Central City could actually be her deceased husband Ronnie. And that’s what much of “Resurrection” dealt with, as Caitlin vowed to save her husband, while Barry Allen, Cecile Horton and the rest of Team Flash suggested that Ronnie actually might have wanted to have been set free.

Turns out, though, that the Ronnie she thought she saved was actually a terrifying villain known as Deathstorm.

Who is Deathstorm and is he the big bad of The Flash season 8?

The Deathstorm reveal sent the internet into meltdown as DC Comics fans had been wanting to see The Flash adapt the character for some time now. And what an adaptation it is!

But just who is Deathstorm? On the show, the character claims to have been a little bit of Ronnie’s essence left behind, suggesting that Firestorm died the day of the singularity so that Deathstorm could live. This is a solid adaptation of the character’s comic book history, as in the comics, Deathstorm is created by Nekron during the Blackest Night event and was, indeed, an undead and evil incarnation of Firestorm.

Ronnie’s connection to the main characters, especially Caitlin, certainly gives Deathstorm’s arc the stakes that a Big Bad would require. With that in mind, we should definitely be prepared to see a lot more of the terrifying skeletal burning supervillain in the episodes ahead.

Interestingly, this is technically the show’s second adaptation of Deathstorm, as we saw an evil Earth-2 version (also portrayed by Robbie Amell) serve as one of Zoom’s henchmen (alongside that earth’s Killer Frost).

What did you think of Deathstorm’s debut on The Flash? Let us know in the comments below!