The Flash season 4: Hartley Sawyer to play Elongated Man!

Earlier this month, we first told you that Elongated Man was going to be one of the major new characters on The Flash season 4. He’s a familiar face from the DC Comics world, even if his powers certainly do feel like some sort of carbon copy of Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four.

Sources have confirmed that The Young and the Restless actor Hartley Sawyer is going to recur this season as Ralph Dibny, who goes by the aforementioned alter ego and possesses the ability to stretch his body to extreme lengths. This could prove valuable on some Team Flash missions, even if on paper we’re not sure that stretching out someone’s limbs is going to be any faster than having Barry Allen just speeding towards someone and punching them in the face.

There is an established friendship between Barry and Dibny in the comics, so there is some groundwork for the two to become friends here. The initial casting notice suggested that he could end up becoming a series regular for season 5 in the event the character is popular, so we’ll see where things go over the course of this season. Dibny may fill the void of an ally for Team Flash left by Julian Albert (Tom Felton), who is not going to be a major part of this season.

Now, we just have to hope that Hartley doesn’t take on the title of “token new character who becomes a Caitlin Snow love interest over the course of the season.” Can’t she just have a year without a romantic interest? There are other cool things to do with these characters.

What else lies ahead?

If you hadn’t heard, Neil Sandilands of The 100 has already been cast to play the part of Clifford DeVoe a.k.a. The Thinker, who will be the Big Bad for the fourth season. He’s also got a little bit of help in the form of The Mechanic, who is going to be played by Kim Engelbrecht. They’ll be turning up throughout the season, and early indications suggest that the show isn’t going to do the same stunt as the past three seasons where they make you spend the majority of the season wondering just who is on the other side of a mask. These villains will be a little bit more apparent to the team, but they won’t be easy to defeat. They’ve got different skills that will require a lot of intelligence and insight to take out.

Of course, there is one other priority that Team Flash has to take care before things get too deep in this season: Figuring out how to free Barry from where he’s trapped at present in the Speed Force. That’ll be the priority of the show’s premiere.

What else is there?

Beyond sharing your thoughts on this story in the comments, you can head over to the link here in the event you do want to get some further news and insight on the series. (Photo: The CW.)