Be sure to watch The Flash tonight, then check out Legends of Tomorrow on Thursday!

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It’s nice ringing in the New Year knowing that 2016 will feature Firestorm as a regular on a TV series, and new comic stories by Gerry Conway! It might just be THE year of Firestorm!

First up is Franz Drameh as Firestorm (and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson)!

Next up is Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein (part of Firestorm)!

My thanks to all the Match-heads who sent me links to this information (and there were a bunch of you)! Y’all are the best!

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Franz Drameh appears to be doing a great job with the role! Looking forward to more of his Firestorm!

Can’t wait until January 21st for Legends of Tomorrow? Then get your fix by listening to the Legends of Tomorrow Podcast! They discuss all things related to and leading to the show. They were even kind enough to invite me to discuss Firestorm on episode 8 of their show!

Watch the trailer again below! I can’t count how many times I’ve watched it!!

Just a little speculation, but the TV version of the Firestorm suit seems to be heavily influenced by Jamal Igle’s comic book re-design of the Firestorm suit (Firestorm the Nuclear Man #23 from May 2005). See below. Notice the chest emblem ends with the three smaller circles (representing electrons). Jamal was the first artist to interpret the insignia this way. On the TV costume, notice the yellow piping on the shoulders and gloves. This design element was also introduced by Jamal Igle; notice on the comic version the gloves and boots. Similar piping has been used in subsequent suits, including the New 52 Firestorm costumes. Way to go, Jamal!

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In case you are wondering about Robbie Amell and this new version of Firestorm…

EW.com recently published an interview with Andrew Kreisberg, The Flash Executive Producer, where he addressed the death of Ronnie Raymond:

Part of the decision was Robbie’s burgeoning film career. He’s on his way to being a very big star, which he completely deserves both professionally and personally. We didn’t want to stand in the way of that. As always, sometimes those tough decisions yield the best storytelling because obviously Ronnie’s death has a major impact on all the characters, Barry, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), Professor Stein. It also gave us a lot of our storytelling as we move forward. Everyone knows there’s a second spin-off coming with Legends of Tomorrow. They know the Firestorm legacy is far from over, so it just gave us a lot of rich storytelling to pursue.

Robbie recently posted the photo below on Instagram and said, “Firestorm is in great hands. But I’ll be back”

Last week Zap2it.com published an interview with Andrew Kreisberg that got me excited about the introduction of Jefferson “Jax” Jackson. Below are some relevant quotes explaining this new version of Firestorm will be more like the comic version! Hooray!

When deciding to give Dr. Stein another second half, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explains how the team wanted the new Firestorm to be different from Ronnie but inevitably closer in resemblance to the comic book lighthearted spirit of the character.

“In the comic books Ronnie was like a dumb jock. Obviously, Robbie and the character that we created for our Ronnie was obviously an engineer and was more mature and has a girlfriend. He was more of an adult,” Kreisberg explains to Zap2it and a group of journalists at an episode preview event. “The idea of a second firestorm being somebody who was just in his early 20s and somebody who was radically different from [Robbie’s] Firestorm.”

That’s not to say that Jax is a dumb jock — he had a 4.0 GPA in high school, but his lack of science background creates a fun dichotomy between him and Dr. Stein that more closely resembles the chemistry between the scientist and Ronnie in the comic books.

Can’t wait to see Jax on-screen tonight! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

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Below are a few screen captures of the Firestorm-related content from the trailer!

In case you missed it previously, here is the description of next week’s episode:

INTRODUCING FIRESTORM — Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team look for another Firestorm match for Dr. Stein (Victor Garber). When the team meets Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (guest star Franz Drameh), Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) has her reservations about whether Jax is the right match for Dr. Stein. Iris (Candice Patton) surprises Joe (Jesse L. Martin) while Barry and Patty (guest star Shantel VanSanten) grow closer. Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Kai Yu Wu & Joe Peracchio (#204). Original airdate 10/27/2015.

Can’t wait to see next week’s episode and how this unfolds!

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“The Fury of Firestorm” airing October 27, 2015 (description taken from The Flash Podcast website):

INTRODUCING FIRESTORM — Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team look for another Firestorm match for Dr. Stein (Victor Garber). When the team meets Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (guest star Franz Drameh), Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) has her reservations about whether Jax is the right match for Dr. Stein. Iris (Candice Patton) surprises Joe (Jesse L. Martin) while Barry and Patty (guest star Shantel VanSanten) grow closer. Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Kai Yu Wu & Joe Peracchio (#204). Original airdate 10/27/2015.

Wow! We’re going to meet the new Firestorm in just a few weeks! Can’t wait to learn more about Jax! Things may have changed since the early planning of this show, but below is how Jax’s character was originally described:

Former high school football star who lost out on a chance to go pro after an injury. Now an auto mechanic, Jay finds a surprising affiliation to the S.T.A.R. Labs crew. A regular, street smart guy who unexpectedly gains powers, and then, as part of the team, regularly quips about the insanity of the situations.

It sounds like Jax will have that “regular guy” quality that Ronnie brought to the character in the comics. Also, Franz Drameh’s character’s full name is Jefferson Jackson?!?! Long time Firestorm fans will recognize that name as Ronnie’s best friend and high school basketball teammate! Looks like the TV show has maintained the sports connection, given that Jax’s description involves playing football.

October 27 can’t get here quick enough!

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