Rick Cosnett is in The Flash Season 9 but not necessarily playing who you’d expect. Who is new mysterious character Malcolm Gilmore?
It’s hard to believe that The Flash will soon be ending with its 9th and final season.
Going back to the beginning, Rick Cosnett starred in Season 1 as Detective Eddie Thawne.
While the Thawne surname was a red herring in Eddie’s case, he was still a thorn in Barry’s side.
After all, Eddie was in a very serious relationship with Iris, who Barry secretly pined for.
Although opposing what Barry wanted, Eddie was a likeable character who treated Barry like a friend.
Once Eddie learned the truth about The Flash, he later joined Barry’s secret team.
If you got to the end of Season 1, you’ll know what happened: Eddie didn’t make it out alive.
Fortunately, The Flash is science-fiction so Eddie’s death meant that Rick Cosnett wasn’t gone completely. Far from it, actually.
Cosnett made minor appearances in Seasons 2 and 3 before taking a 4-season break from the show.
Eddie returned in Season 8 during a time travel episode, sowing the seeds for the character to appear again.
Who is Malcolm Gilmore?
In the opening scenes of The Flash Season 9 episode 10, we see a character played by Cosnett in his morning routine. It transpires that this is Dr. Malcom Gilmore, a scientist at Mercury Labs.
Long-time Flash fans will remember Mercury Labs was a big plot point in early season. Most notably, it was where Dr Tina McGee worked.
For most of the episode, we get no further answers as to who Malcolm Gilmore is.
Then, the very ending scenes give an idea of where the story could be going…
While working in his lab, red lightning strikes Dr. Gilmore. The impact knocks him out and when he wakes up, there’s a file containing information about Eddie Thawne.
However, to leave no doubt about Gilmore being a new character, he asks out loud who Eddie is.
Why is any of this important?
The names “Malcolm” and “Gilmore” both have significant meaning in DC Comics.
Malcolm Thawne is the real name of supervillain Cobalt Blue. In his backstory, Malcolm was Barry Allen’s twin brother.
However, Dr. Gilmore, who delivered the twins, stole Malcolm and gave him to the Thawnes.
As a villain, Malcolm channelled his rage and jealousy towards Barry as Cobalt Blue.
His powers came from a talisman which allowed him to access several powers such as power absorption.
So, to backtrack, Cosnett’s new character nods back to two very important DC Comics characters.
To add even more fuel to the fire, Flash fans have long wished for Cosnett to play Cobalt Blue.
Think about it: he’s playing a Thawne around Barry’s age, resembles the comic illustration and the seeds for a rivalry are already there.
Ultimately, it never came to fruition as executing the story would contradict plot elements established by the show.
Even more so, Cosnett-as-Eddie happened to wear a necklace/talisman during the character’s Season 1 death scene.
What does Rick Cosnett make of all this?
Rick Cosnett did an interview with Courageous Nerd in 2021.
In the interview, Cosnett said about a potential return:
“Cobalt Blue makes a lot of sense, to me. It’s something that I have kind of thought about from the very beginning.
“Obviously, with the different timelines, it would be simple to have him come back as someone completely different but with the same soul. Same kind of heart, in a completely different job. Shake things up in Central City again.
“It would be super fun and I’m sure everyone would be super happy to play with me again.
“I think it will happen, I do. It would be super beautiful and interesting to have Eddie come back in some really creative way. Maybe I’m the archenemy of Barry, the underlying villain. Maybe I’m Time. Yeah, that would be cool.”
Rick Cosnett, Courageous Nerd (2021)
While signs seem to point to Malcolm Gilmore becoming Cobalt Blue, only time will tell.
The next episode of The Flash Season 9 airs Wednesday, May 10 on The CW.