THE FLASH Casts Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave

The heat is on!

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the upcoming CW series The Flash has cast Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory, better known to Flash fans as the supervillain Heat Wave.  This will be the second of the original Rogues gang of Flash villains to appear on the series, after Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold.

According to the article, Rory will first appear in the series' tenth episode and will be "a pyromaniac who finds an outlet for his obsession with fire when he teams up with Leonard Snart/Captain Cold and becomes the villain known as Heat Wave."  Miller makes his debut as Snart in Episode Four, but Purcell's Rory will also be heard from in that same episode.

The 44-year-old Australian actor is best known for playing Lincoln Burrows on the Fox series Prison Break, with Miller as his on-screen brother Michael Scofield.  Purcell has also appeared in the movies Mission: Impossible 2, Equilibrium, Blade: Trinity, and the upcoming Fast and Furious 7.  In addition to Prison Break, Purcell has appeared on the television series John Doe, House, North Shore and Castle.

Created in 1963 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in The Flash (vol.1) #140, Heat Wave first appeared as Mick Rory, a pyromaniac who had an intense fear of cold after being locked in a freezer during a school field trip to a slaughterhouse.  After seeing various Rogues taking on the Flash in Central City, Rory made a protective costume and a gun-sized flamethrower, taking on the identity of Heat Wave.  After becoming a member of the Rogues, Heat Wave developed a rivalry with Captain Cold and attempted to abandon his life as a criminal a number of times to no avail.

In the current New 52 continuity, Heat Wave now has the ability to shoot fire from his chest and continues to have problems with Captain Cold, blaming him for a parting of ways with the Rogues.

Purcell will be the first actor to portray the character in live-action, but he was previously voiced for animation by Lex Lang on Justice League Unlimited and by Steven Blum on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

The Flash debuts on The CW on Tuesday, October 7th at 8:00 p.m. EST.