Over the last few years, Robbie Amell has played a string of different characters ranging from the teleporting protagonist on the short-lived CW television series The Tomorrow People to the jock with a heart of gold in The DUFF to Agent Mulder's conspiracy-loving doppelgänger in The X-Files revival. But perhaps the role he's most associated with is that of Ronnie Raymond, one half of the nuclear-powered hero Firestorm, who was last seen on The Flash.
Although Ronnie met his end helping to close the wormhole over Central City in the season 1 finale, Amell was brought back in season 2 as his deceased character's interdimensional counterpart Deathstorm, during the two-part Earth-2 storyline that unfolded earlier this year. The experience gave Amell a chance to step back into a familiar role (with an attitude adjustment, of course) and to once again work side-by-side with Danielle Panabaker, who joined Amell on the dark side in her depiction of Earth-2 Caitlin Snow as the villainous Killer Frost. That Bonnie and Clyde-like duo was just the tip of the iceberg it seems, as the seemingly limitless possibilities of the DC Multiverse being teased throughout The Flash season 2 present a very real possibility of Amell returning to the role in some capacity – a possibility the actor would very much welcome.
While speaking at Emerald City Comic Con 2016, along with Panabaker and Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West), Amell turned Ronnie's all-too-common penchant for dying into a running joke, but assured those in attendance that he's ready to play Ronnie again, just as soon as executive producer Greg Berlanti asks him.
In answering a question as to whether or not he'll be flinging flames at evildoers in the near future, Amell had this to say:
"I hope so. I am not back this season. They're just finishing up the season [2] finale, and I wasn't available… and they didn't ask me. There were a lot of really big storylines to tie up and I had dinner with Greg Berlanti the other night and I asked him for all the spoilers and he gave them to me, and you guys are in for one incredible final stretch of season 2. But I would love to go back. I told him: 'Whenever I'm available, whenever you want me, I'm there.' I would prefer to go back as Firestorm [rather] than Deathstorm. I loved playing Deathstorm but I think it's tougher to have a serious arc if I'm going back as a bad guy, because I just won't last as long."
Although Amell was never far from cracking wise about his appearance at the Con for playing what is ostensibly a dead character, he was adamant about his desire to return to The Flash, even if it means playing a non-nuclear Ronnie Raymond.
"I've had a lot of fun playing Ronnie, so even if there were a version of my character without superpowers, I would love to go back and play that. I actually really love playing the Ronnie Raymond side of the character, getting to do scenes with Danielle and the rest of the cast. The Firestorm stuff is really fun to do and fun to see on TV, but to ground something as a real person is nice for the acting side of things."
While nothing regarding Amell's return is set in stone at the moment, it's clear he's maintained a relationship with Greg Berlanti, who has shepherded the DC TV Universe from one to four shows across two networks. And given the success of his appearance as Deathstorm earlier in the year, it would be shame for that to be the last anyone saw of Ronnie Raymond.
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The Flash returns with 'Versus Zoom' on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 @8pm on The CW.