We’ve seen this duo of rogues on The Flash wreaking havoc on Central City more times than one. But they’ve proven that even the most cruel of villains can see through the grapevine and join the good guys (if there’s incentive for them).
This week, it’s all about the bad guys with Leonard Snart, known as Captain Cold, and Mick Rory, known as Heat Wave.
We’ll start off with Captain Cold and his backstory as to how he became the villain that took the phrase “giving the cold shoulder” and gave it a whole new meaning.
Leonard Snart, as a child, was raised by an abusive father and would eventually leave his home and live with his grandfather. After his grandfather’s death, Snart was fed up with his home life and decided to go find his path as a criminal.
He joined a small group of thieves and were given guns and visors (which would eventually become a huge part of Cold’s costume). During one of their heists, they would be thwarted and imprisoned by the Flash. This would be the beginning of Snart’s hatred for the scarlet speedster.
After reading an article that discussed the possibility of using energy emissions of a cyclotron to interfere with the Flash’s powers, Snart designs a weapon that could harness the power of the energy emissions and goes to steal a cyclotron that would power his gun. Upon finishing his experiment, he accidentally pulls the trigger and the moisture in the air caused the rays from the gun to freeze.
Snart would don a costume and name himself Captain Cold, the man who mastered absolute zero.
Raised on a farm just on the outskirts of Central City, Mick Rory was always an endorser of fire and flames as a child. However, this endorsing would drastically turn into an obsession. And one night, he would start a fire in his own home and watch as it burned to the ground with joy.
Soon after, he would go to live with his uncle to try to “get better.” It didn’t work out that way.
His obsession with fire would continue throughout his adolescence and he eventually locked a schoolmate of his inside his house and set it on fire after the schoolmate had locked Rory inside of a meat locker during a school field trip. This would force Rory to run away from home and found a job as a fire eater within an on-the-road circus, which he, of course, set on fire, too.
After many events throughout his life that led him to hate the cold, he would use his obsession to become a villain.
He designed a protective suit which was composed of asbestos, built a small flamethrower and became Heat Wave. This would lead to him committing numerous crimes in Central City, catching the attention of the Flash.
Now, seeing that these two have become partners in The Flash, what will prompt these two element-crazed maniacs to come together and join the ranks of some of the world’s greatest superheroes? Will there be a common enemy that could give reason for Captain Cold and Heat Wave to join the good guys?
Snart did say that he “can’t imagine any kind of future where he’s a hero.” Maybe we could see a change of heart by Captain Cold and Heat Wave? Wouldn’t count on it, though.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow premieres in 2016 on SFL-TV, the CW!