After a rather brief stint as the leading man (one season) on another CW show – The Tomorrow People – Robbie Amell has made the leap to the big leagues, by joining The Flash. His role has already been revealed as that of Ronnie Raymond, one half of the nuclear powered superhero Firestorm. For those of you unfamiliar with his story, here’s a rather brief synopsis: a maintenance worker at STAR Laboratories, Ronnie was presumed dead after the explosion that triggered The Flash’s abilities, but his fate was much more complicated than that, with the explosion granting him superhuman abilities that, once he bonds with another man, create Firestorm. So far there’s been no word on who will play his other half, but hopefully we’ll learn that soon enough, given that the premier for the show is fast approaching and Ronnie’s first appearance will be in episode three.
Once more in the role of one of the good guys, Robbie Amell has quite a task on his hands, given that his portrayal of Ronnie/Firestorm is the first one for the character when it comes to live-action TV. Given the faith placed on him by the studio, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best. He’s already proven his acting chops in the already mentioned The Tomorrow People, 1600 Penn and Revenge, so he’s not exactly a beginner when it comes to acting. And if his name sounds vaguely familiar, well…that might be because he’s the cousin of Stephen Amell, our very own Arrow, whose show has spawned the spin-off centred around Barry Allen, the Flash. All in the family, right?
We only have a few more months of waiting ahead of us, but with more news coming out every day, it does feel like time’s flying, right?
