Hank McCoy (Before the Fur)

You know who I think is a badass villain? Cold. Captain Cold. (Although, personally, I think the ‘captain’ is pretty ridiculously campy and I prefer to just call him Cold).

I mean, I know lots of heroes have the obligatory vililan-with-ice-related-powers.

But let’s face it--with a name as simple as ‘Cold’, this guy kind of has a lock on the title doesn’t he?

I mean, sure, I love Mr. Freeze and everything. He’s got that Darth Vader thing going on with his big 1950’s glass-encased head.

But what I love about Cold isn’t the gun (although I think any villain with a literal ‘freeze ray’ is fun) and it isn’t the parka he runs around it. It’s that he IS ‘cold’.

Most villains WANT something. Mr. Freeze might be a monster but he wasn’t always that way. And in fact, part of why everyone seems to love Mr. Freeze is that he is so committed to this sympathetic goal of getting his wife back.

Even the Joker seems to want to prove a point. Sometimes it isn’t entirely clear what point he’s trying to prove, but he just WANTS this adversarial relationship with Batman.

And Lex? Lex seems to want to prove that he’s better than everyone. That HE’S what the human race needs and not Superman. It’s all about his ego. But what does Cold want?

Well, essentially, Cold seems to want:
1. Money
2. Women
3. Flash dead

And in that order.

It’s so simple. So base. It’s sort of like that’s his strength as a villain. Cold doesn’t even have enough of a personality to have a weakness of any kind. He isn’t going to get distracted or become emotionally overwhelmed or something like that. In a way it’s easy for him to be the villain because his attachments are so empty. He isn’t weighed down by anything and seems free to do whatever he wants. He’s really just without a conscience.

He can be cruel and sadistic but mostly I don’t think Cold really CARES to develop some complicated relationship with Flash. He doesn’t taunt him with clues or try to understand Flash’s spiritual experience or anything LIKE that.

He just guns for Flash with everything he’s got. If there’s a dirty trick…he’ll use it. But not to brag. Just to take Flash out.

I know nowadays Cold has really become a big part of Flash’s Rogues. And, not surprisingly, he seems to be the guy who keeps everything in order for them.

In his own logical, harsh, cold way.

But I think if a Flash movie is on the horizon, Cold would be a good candidate for Flash to go up against. I think this guy could carry his own movie.

The thing is, while his freeze ray might harken back to the cheesy Golden Age of comics, I think it might be a mistake to take a Flash movie in that direction. I’m not saying I expect Christopher Nolan to helm every DC movie that comes out (but hey, I wouldn’t complain either) but I think letting Cold really be a criminal instead of a supervillain would bring out the best of said movie.

Actually, while it was really campy, the fan-favorite, short-lived Flash television series introduced Cold into the show near the end. And believe it or not I sort of like this presentation of him. Originally a ‘hired gun’ that one mob boss uses against his rivals, Cold quickly shows that his only real loyalty is to his bank account.