Mark Hamill must be having a case of 90’s nostalgia as the Star Wars actor is set to play as James Jesse aka bad guy The Trickster in CW’s The Flash. Hamill had the same role in CBS’s first take on the series but this time, his current role is less funny and more serious. It’s still funny, though how Mark Hamill later lended his voice for The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Seems like he’s attracted to anarchic characters.
Mark Hamill will be reunited with John Wesley Shipp, the previous Flash from CBS who now plays Barry’s father. The actor is scheduled to appear on the first season’s 17th episode which will air in 2015. We also got a character description for this new Trickster and looks like he won’t be tricking that much: “Mark Hamill returns in a brand new interpretation of James Jesse aka The Trickster”, a role he originated on the 90’s ‘Flash’ series. In this new iteration, The Trickster is an anarchist terrorist con man serving a life sentence in Iorn Heights who helps Barry ( Grant Gustin) and Det. West (Jesse L. Martin) to foil the city-wide attacks of a wannabe Trickster eagerly following in the original’s deadly footsteps. The CW is keen on reuniting the whole cast as we can see. But besides Mark Hamill and John Wesley Shipp, we’ll also be seeing (a lot sooner) Amanda Pays as Dr. Tina McGee in “The Man in the Yellow Suit”which will arrive this week.
In the comic version, The Trickster was a circus acrobat who would later become a criminal and practical joker. One of his comic weapon trademarks were his explosive teddy bears. Maybe we’ll get a nod somewhere in the upcoming episodes? It would be a nice tribute and something that the Flash would have to quickly evade. Worth noting also is that Mark Hamill will reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in the next Star Wars installment which will arrive in 2016. So maybe we will also notice some physical changes in the actor. Nevertheless he’ll be soon chewing up scenery as The Trickster.