THE FLASH Casts Tony Todd as the Voice of Season Two’s Big Bad, Zoom

After the Reverse-Flash terrorized Barry Allen in The Flash‘s first season, season two’s Big Bad has some big shoes to fill. It was confirmed at Comic-Con last summer that Flash will next battle Zoom, and now, that role has been cast.

According to Variety, Tony Todd is set to play Zoom in season two of The Flash. He will make his debut in episode two, titled “Flash of Two Worlds.” However, instead of actually physically portraying the villain, it sounds like the actor is merely providing the voice. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explains this decision. “Last year, with the Reverse-Flash, we just modulated Tom Cavanagh’s voice, and this year we wanted to do something a little bit different. Part of the mystery of the season is who or what is underneath the Zoom outfit, and so we wanted to do something like James Earl Jones as Darth Vader — this iconic voice coming out of this mask. Last year, we thought of the Reverse-Flash as a speed warrior; this year, Zoom is like a speed demon, and no one does demon-voice better than Tony Todd.”

Kreisberg then says that Zoom’s suit is more organic than Reverse-Flash’s, comparing it to Spider-Man villain Venom. “In a way, it’s hard to tell if it is a suit or alive… There’s no skin showing, for all you know there’s a robot underneath, or dark energy.” He goes on to explain that the Zoom mystery will be drawn out a la a horror film, the character will have a very simple and personal motivation, and the series will offer a “clever” new take on the villain that should please both fans and non-fans of comic book lore.

In addition to movies such as Final Destination and Candyman, Tony Todd has also done voicework in various DC Comics adaptations. He voices Darkseid in the LEGO DC Comics Superheroes movie series, while he also portrayed Young Justice‘s Icon and Batman: The Brave and the Bold‘s Astaroth. It should be very exciting to see – er, hear – his work as Zoom.

Stay tuned for more news as we have it. The Flash returns to The CW on October 7th.