THE FLASH Casts Neil Sandilands as The Thinker

Cogito ergo sum.

Deadline has word from The CW TV panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that The Flash has cast Neil Sandilands as Clifford DeVoe, better known to DC Comics fans as the supervillain known as The Thinker.

According to the article, The Thinker, who will be the Big Bad for Season 4, is described as "a metahuman with a mega mind who embarks on a seasonlong battle with The Flash that pits the 'fastest man alive' against the 'fastest mind alive.'  A true genius, he’s devised an intricate plan to fix all that he deems wrong with humanity."

Sandilands, 42, is a South African actor probably best known as Titus on The CW series The 100 and has appeared on episodes of The Americans, NCIS, Hap and Leonard, and House.

Created in 1943 by Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard, the Thinker first appeared in All-Flash Comics #12 as Clifford DeVoe, a failed lawyer who bitterly ended his career in 1933.  Realizing that many of the criminals he had encountered had the skills but not the brains to rule Gotham City's underworld, he started a new career as the brain behind small-time villains.  As the Thinker, he was defeated by Jay Garrick, the original Flash.  He always sought out new scientific devices to use and his most important was the "Thinking Cap", a metal hat that could project mental force.  The Thinker would use this device repeatedly over the years.

The Thinker was a member of the Injustice Society, who often faced off against the Justice Society of America.  At one point, The Thinker appeared as a judge in a trial of the Justice Society, but was revealed as the Green Lantern in disguise, having captured the real Thinker after escaping Brain Wave.  This led to the Injustice Society's defeat.  Together with the Fiddler and the Shade, the Thinker was the man behind the decades-long "abduction" of Keystone City and the original Flash, after which he was defeated by the Flashes of two eras.  His "suspended animation-time" in Keystone kept the Thinker young over the years, and he continued his criminal career in modern times.

In recent years, DeVoe accepted a mission with the Task Force X (A.K.A the Suicide Squad) in exchange for a full pardon.  Although he was seemingly killed by the Weasel during this mission, he turned up alive soon after only to be dying from cancer due to the cap. His former foe, the original Flash, attempted to save him with the Thinking Cap but DeVoe refused, preferring to rest in peace.

This will be the first time the character has appeared in live action, although he has appeared in episodes of the animated series Justice League Unlimited and Batman: Brave and the Bold.

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 4 on October 10, 2017.