No live-action season of any version of The Flash would be complete without an appearance from the always great Mark Hamill, and now we know he'll be arriving next week, just in time for Christmas celebrations in Central City. But after getting our official first look at the actor's return for the midseason finale, we're starting to wonder just who it is he'll be playing, since he looks a little...different. Check out the creepy shot below.
I mean, that looks like The Trickster that viewers have all gotten to know, but it's mostly because Mark Hamill is so recognizable. And he does have wild hair, as well as a very distinct outfit, both of which are Trickster staples. But this is like the "I've been up snorting meth and playing Call of Duty on a blank TV screen for 77 hours straight" version of the DC Comics villain, rather than the prank-embracing baddie who showed up last Christmas.
Mark Hamill's involvement in Season 3 was revealed through behind-the-scenes photos, and at the time, we weren't alone in noticing the similarities between this Season 3 character and that slightly more famous antagonist, The Joker. Hamill is rocking purple hair, face makeup and a pinstripe suit, all of which fit in with the Clown Prince of Crime's look. Adding further justification there is the fact that Hamill has been voicing The Joker in animated TV series, animated movies and video games for decades, so it would be a perfect connection. Of course, it would be a total game-changer if The Flash brought The Joker into things, especially since Gotham is going a slightly different direction with its iteration. Plus, there are already 800 villains on this show.
A third option arises from seeing other pictures from "The Present," in which Mark Hamill is sharing the screen with John Wesley Shipp's Jay Garrick, who is the Earth-3 version of The Flash. That means it's entirely possible that this is the Earth-3 version of Trickster - it's been confirmed that Earth-2 didn't have one - but The Flash is rarely so simplistic in its explanations. So does this mean viewers might be getting the first live-action version of the comics' The Jokester, which is The Joker's counterpart on Earth-3? That would be an interesting way to bring the Batman villain's influence into The Flash without stepping on canonical toes.
Other options include: The Trickster mistook Christmas for Halloween and chose the wrong time to play dress-up; this is Earth-3's Luke Skywalker, who chose not to go the way of the Jedi; this is an actor playing the role of The Trickster from the feature film adaptation of the Scarlet Speedster's story. None of those seem as likely, so we're sticking with hoping it's The Joker.
The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW, though next week will be the superhero drama's midseason finale. To bide your time during the wait for the rest of the episodes, check out our fall TV schedule and our midseason premiere schedule.
