He may not be the most recognizable comic book villain, but Jake Simmons (a.k.a. Deathbolt) is distinctive among the other Arrow and The Flash evildoers. Not only is he one of the few villains to appear on both CW shows, debuting in the Arrow episode “Broken Arrow” and returning in The Flash Season 1’s penultimate episode “Rogue Air,” but he’s so far the only metahuman whose powers didn’t originate from the particle accelerator explosion. After being taken out by Captain Cold on The Flash, it seemed like fans wouldn't be seeing him again, but actor Doug Jones believes it’s possible that audiences could see Deathbolt return at some point.
During his chat with Comicbook.com, Jones cited his belief that there may be a way the character can be brought back due to the ambiguous nature of Simmons’ grisly end. Said Jones:
In a comic book world, death means nothing, but was this death? They never really did paint it as a full on death. I think I could give the writers some leeway. If I’m busy they don’t have to bring me back, if I’m free and available and they want me, I’ll return. We’ll see.
As a refresher, Simmons was one of the five metahumans prisoners the S.T.A.R. Labs team was transporting away from the facility in “Rogue Air.” After Snart and his sister Lisa sabotaged the prisoner transport truck, Simmons and his fellow proto-Rogues attacked the Scarlet Speedster and his allies. He was close to killing Flash with his plasma beams, but got blasted in the face by Snart’s trademark gun because, according to Snart, Simmons owed him money. Simmons’ face was blackened by freezer burn and he fell to the ground with a horrified expression. That’s the last time he was seen conscious, but it was never verified whether he was truly iced (pun intended).
Jones notes that in one take of the scene, Liam McIntyre’s Marc Mardon, a.k.a. Weather Wizard, asked Snart “Why did you kill him?” In the aired episode, however, he asked, “Why did you shoot him?”, which leaves some wiggle room on whether that cold blast did him in or if he was just incapacitated. Given that it hasn’t been divulged how Simmons is a metahuman, and the fact that death in the world of comic books isn’t necessarily permanent, the writers could do a little retconning to bring Simmons back if they wanted to. However, if they decide that Simmons’ time has come and gone, at least Jones had the opportunity to nearly kill two superheroes on Arrow and The Flash. Not many actors get to brag about something like that.
The Flash Season 2 will air on The CW later this fall.
