Former WWE SuperstarAdam Copeland, known in the ring as Edge, has signed on to play the comic book character Al Rothstein, a.k.a. Atom Smasher inSeason 2ofThe Flash. The actor has signed on to appear inThe Flash Season 2premiere, which is currently in production, although his character on the show will be quite different than his rendition in theDC Comics. Here’s a description of the character fromComicBook.com.
“One of the most powerful enemies we encounter this season, Atom Smasher has come to Central City to kill The Flash. His incredible strength and ability to grow to enormous size makes him more than a match for Flash and the entire S.T.A.R. Labs team will have to come together to find a way to defeat him.”
In theDC Comics, Al Rothstein was a hero, but there was villainy in his family line. He was the grandson of the villain known as Cyclotron, and godson of Al Pratt, who previously served as The Atom before Ray Palmer took up that mantle. Before becoming Atom Smasher, Rothstein previously operated as a character known as Nuklon. DuringComic-Conlast week, executive producerAndrew Kreisbergteased there will be several villains they didn’t want to reveal yet, and it seems that Atom Smasher may be one of them.
The name Al Rothstein may be familiar to some fans ofThe Flash, since he was one of numerous DC characters who were listed as dying from the particle accelerator explosion, which gave Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) his super-speedy powers. Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) was another character thought to have perished in the blast, but he later came back as one half ofFirestorm. While the explosion gave several of the characters last season their powers, the alternate dimension known as Earth-2 will be the source for many of the meta-humans this season.
Adam Copelandjoins other new additionsTeddy Sears(Jay Garrick), Shantel VanSanten (Patty Spivot) andMichael Ironside(Lewis Snart) this season. Aside from his work in the WWE as Edge,Adam Copelandhas previously starred in Syfy’sHavenand movies such as Highlander: Endgame andBending the Rules. Are you looking forward to his portrayal of Atom Smasher onThe Flash? The new season premieres Tuesday, October 6 at 8 PM ET on The CW, so stay tuned for more details.
