When we last saw The Flash on The CW, Barry Allen was racing to stop a black hole from destroying Central City, but just as he approached the mammoth singularity, the screen went black.
Fast forward to tonight’s season 2 premiere of the show and we know Flash (or someone/something) must have saved the day, because Central City is celebrating Flash Day, honoring Allen for all of his high-speed hijinks.
As the city shows its support for the Scarlet Speedster, a new enemy emerges in the form of Atom Smasher, played by Adam Copeland, aka WWE Hall of Famer Edge. Atom Smasher has always towed the line between heroism and terrorism, and in this episode, the character comes to Central City for the sole purpose of killing the Flash.
It's not clear what direction the show will go with Atom Smasher, but Copeland has hinted that the character will have some real layers to him and that he's "in a bad position." This jives with Smasher's conflicted comic book career, which has been highlighted by morally dubious decision making and questionable calls.
It remains to be seen how many episodes Copeland will join the cast for, but if the fight scenes from last season are anything to go by, we'll at least get some memorable visuals out of Atom Smasher tonight, even if we never see him again.
While the character has been known to comic book fans for decades, he isn’t necessarily a household name, so to catch you up before tonight’s big premiere, here’s all you need to know about Atom Smasher.
Atom Smasher
• Real name: Albert Julian Rothstein
• First appearance as Nuklon: All-Star Squadron #25 (September, 1983)
• First appearance as Atom Smasher: JSA Secret Files and Origins #1 (August 1999)
• Created by: Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, Mike Machlan
• Powers and abilities: Control over molecular structure, enhanced strength, increased endurance and durability
• Team affiliations: Justice Society of America, Justice League, Suicide Squad, Infinity, Inc.
• Other media appearances: Justice League Unlimited, Injustice: Gods Among Us
• Notable relationships: Godson of Al Pratt, the original Atom
As the godson of the original Al Pratt version of the Atom, Al Rothstein was literally born into the superhero game, first appearing as Nuklon then later adopting the Atom Smash moniker. Over the past 30 years, he’s been a member of the JSA and JLA during his career and has played a background role in countless DC comic book storylines.
However, his questionable approach to the superhero world has resulted in numerous run-ins with the federal government, at one point landing him in prison, where he was approached by Amanda Waller to join a new Suicide Squad. He has been absent from the DC Universe since the start of the New 52, but the more recent version of The Atom shares many similarities to Atom Smasher’s powers.
You can check out our first (brief) look at Atom Smasher below:
