Who is Zoom?

If there’s one mystery that needs solving on The Flash, it’s how a fully-trained CSI forensic scientist like Barry Allen can make massively stupid decision every time he decides to tap into the Speed Force and bust a few Metahuman heads. The other mystery right now, is the identity of the latest villain that is busy terrorising the Central City of multiple parrallel Earth’s, Zoom.

Faster, deadlier and cooler-looking than the Flash, Zoom is always several steps ahead of the Flash and hellbent on eventually stealing all of his speed. So who’s under that creepy mask? We’ve got a few theories on that. And odds. TAKING ALL BETS!

Hunter Zolomon

Only one man has gone by the name of Zoom in the comics, and that’s Hunter Zolomon. While the TV version of Zolomon may be an Earth-1 doppleganger of Earth-2’s Flash, Jay Garrick, it’s still a likely scenario. And Zoom is ultimately a tragic hero in the comics, a menace who exists only to make the Flash realise exactly what the cost is for being a hero: Sacrifice.

In the comics, Zolomon and the Flash were actually allies. But when Zolomon became paralysed from the waist down thanks to Gorilla Grodd and the Flash refused to travel back in time to save him, that’s when the friendship disintegrated. Using the cosmic treadmill in the Flash museum, Zolomon regained the use of his legs and the ability to alter his relative speed in time and space, thus creating the illusion of super-speed. And that’s when Zolomon decided to teach the Flash how great of a motivator personal tragedy could be.

The idea is there in The Flash. The character would obviously need plenty of tweaking and groundwork to work, but it is doable. Or this Hunter could be a massive red herring on the part of Garrick himself…

Odds: 50-1

Eddie Thawn

Poor ol’ Eddy. Easily the most likable character in the first season of The Flash, Eddie was a good cop who just wanted to protect those he cared and loved. But being the ancestor of the Reverse-Flash himself, didn’t exactly help. Faced with the realisation that his entire life would be not be remembered in the centuries to come, Eddie finally stopped the Reverse-Flash by putting a bullet in his own chest and erasing the negative speedster from the timeline.

And then he got sucked up into that stray multiversal breach. Convenient. Now imagine a twisted and darker Eddie, driven mad by breach and Speed Force exposure, back for revenge once he escaped the singularity. The biggest hurdle here is that Zoom was already attacking Jay Garrick’s Flash when the singularity opened over Earth-2 Central City.

Thing is, if this Zoom is using time-shifting super-speed as opposed to regular Speed-Force velocity, that bump could easily be jumped over for this particular speed demon. And a vengeful Eddie who wants to make the Flash suffer, is slowly starting to make sense.

Odds: 1000-1

Earth-2 Henry Allen

Thanks to this week’s episode, we already know that the original Flash of the early 1990s is a scarlet speedster who exists inside of his own universe. And that’s a  neat Easter Egg that the core series keeps around, as actor John Wesley Shipp became father to the current Flash. But what if the Henry Allen of other universes wasn’t so warm? What if at least one of these Allens became a villain instead of a hero?

It’d be a terrific nod, and the actor in question is in perfect shape to portray Zoom. There’s already fan theories in the wild about how the Zoom cowl matches Shipp’s jawline, while his build is almost identical to that of Zoom. It’d be one hell of a reveal, for Allen to finally face Zoom and see his father’s face under the mask.

Odds: 10 000-1

Earth-2 Barry Allen

But then again, what if evil ran in the family? What if Earth-2 Barry Allen was a darker doppleganger? There’s already some evidence for this. Earth-2 Barry isn’t exactly well-liked on his Earth, having been described as a selfish individual who put his needs before that of his family. Behind that dorkish facade could lie the mind of a madman, one who is apparently well-versed in multiversal theories and seeks to not only be the fastest man alive, but the quickest of all 52 Barry Allens in existence.

The rabbit-hole goes even deeper. Remember when Earth-1 Barry saw glimpses of the multiverse at the end of the first season? There was a brief moment where he spotted himself in a jail cell. What if that was actually Earth-2 Barry, jailed for some unkown reason and then connected to the Speed-Force in an accident in that reality?

It would also explain why he didn’t bother unmasking the Flash in their first encounter, as he possibly planned to steal both his speed and his identity. It gets even tripper, when you see the references to another Flash comic book villain who goes by the name of Cobalt Blue, Barry Allen’s evil twin brother. Or maybe I’m just reading way too much into this.

Odds: 500-1

Nora Allen

…Oh wait.

Odds: Infinity – 1

Last Updated: February 11, 2016