One of the fun things about DC’s comic book universe is that it has been around for so long that even the smallest background character has probably had at least a panel or two dedicated to them and their backstory. However, in all of the decades that comic books have been around, a handful of people have fallen through the cracks. For whatever reason, no one gave them a story when they were first introduced, nobody thought to bring them up during one of DC’s many universe-wide reboots, and no clever writer has introduced a ridiculous retcon that explains how they’ve been secretly masterminding every bad thing that has ever happened to the Justice League.
One such character is the unnamed father of Leonard Snart, the classic Flash villain who is better known as Captain Cold. He fathered the future Captain Cold, he was abusive, and that’s really all we know about him. Finally, though, The CW’s Flash TV show is going to correct this decades-long oversight by introducing Lewis Snart, the father of Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), in an early season two episode.
That comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says veteran actor Michael Ironside will be playing Papa Cold. The article describes him as “a cold-blooded, ruthless career criminal” who has recently been released from prison and has “a plan that will endanger both of his children.” (Captain Cold has a sister named Lisa.) We don’t know much more beyond that, but the best part of this is that the writers can come up with whatever kind of story for Papa Cold that they want. Maybe he’ll end up having a superpower that is thematically relevant to his son’s fondness for guns that freeze things. Like, maybe his arms are frozen solid, so he’s able to bash people really good, but he could never hug his family.