Who Is Cobalt Blue in ‘The Flash’ Season 9? DC Villain’s Origin & Powers Explained

The recent episode of The Flash presented us with the first part of a four-part series finale, which was really exciting. We got to see Barry Allen dealing with the worst day of his life, and we even got to see some familiar faces like Eobard Thawne. However, one character that stood out in “A New World, Part One” was Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Tha-no Malcolm Gilmore, who was revealed to be the possible villain of The Flash. This article will discuss Cobalt Blue’s character and powers.

Cobalt Blue, also known as Malcolm Thawne, was a long-lost twin brother of Barry Allen, who was taken by Dr. Gilmore as a baby and given to the Thawne family. Malcolm had a really hard childhood, but seeing that his twin brother Barry had a much better upbringing, he swore to seek revenge against the speedster. Malcolm eventually created a magical talisman that let the man steal everything he desired, including Barry Allen’s speed. Cobalt Blue’s powers include energy projection, energy construct creation, power absorption, superhuman speed, and healing.

Cobalt Blue is an old comic book character who didn’t return after the New 52 reboot of DC comics, but the character is still relevant to this day, especially in The Flash series. This villain and his development were predicted by some fans years ago, and we will take time to explain his character in comics and The Flash series. If you’re interested, stay with us until the end.

Who is Cobalt in the DC comics?

Cobalt Blue is a relatively new character in the DC comics, at least because he first appeared in Speed Force #1 comic book from 1997. The story goes something like this. In the comics, Nora Allen actually gave birth to twins, one of them being Barry.

The other twin was taken by Dr. Gilmore, who irresponsibly treated Charlene Thawne, another woman who was giving birth that night. To fix his mistake, Dr. Gilmore takes Nora Allen’s second child, gives it to Charlene Thawne, and simultaneously lies about the fate of Barry’s twin brother. This moment marked Malcolm’s life onwards since his life was really hard.

Malcolm’s adoptive parents were con artists, using their strange power, including the blue healing flame, and selling it to others. Of course, every biological Thawne had that power except Malcolm, who sought answers about his origins. He discovered he was adopted and went on a journey to find Dr. Gilmore.

The doctor told Malcolm the truth about his origins, which enraged the seventeen-year-old boy – he killed the doctor of sight. This is where the villainous origin story begins for Malcolm, who decides to track down Barry Allen and his family.

After many years, Malcolm tracked down Barry and even got a job in Central City Police Department, where Barry worked as a police officer. He watched his brother from afar and even witnessed when Barry was hit with speed force and gained powers. Jealousy and envy drove Malcolm to create a special blue flame talisman, which gave him the power to steal anything he desired.

Of course, the talisman made him the villain Cobalt Blue, and he used his new power to steal speed from various speedsters – Barry Allen, Wally West, and even Jay Garrick. Even after Barry Allen died, Cobalt Blue continued chasing Wally West, who became The Flash.

During their battle, Cobalt Blue tricked Wally into coming to Barry’s tombstone to kill the speedster. However, Wally is smarter and tricks Malcolm into telling him his life story, using the villain’s rant to recuperate and ultimately defeating the evil speedster. Afterward, we don’t see that much of Cobalt Blue in the comics since he wasn’t (yet) brought back after the New 52 reboot.

Nevertheless, Malcolm is an interesting character with interesting powers that we will dive into in the next section.

Cobalt Blue’s powers and “special” talisman

Being the adopted child of the Thawne family, Malcolm never had their special powers. The comics revealed that Malcolm’s family could use a special blue flame that could heal people. However, when Malcolm visited his adoptive grandmother seeking knowledge of their power, she confirmed that the potential of the ability was never fully used.

The power was actually the art with huge potential his adoptive family never fully used. The old woman proceeded to help Malcolm to learn the art of the blue flame, which could be used to steal anything from other people and feed with passion. Malcolm learned to store his hatred for Barry inside the special talisman, wear it around his neck, and use it to steal anything his heart desires.

Of course, Cobalt Blue used the blue flame talisman to steal speed force from Wally West, Barry Allen, and Jay Garrick, Which leads us to his powers.

Cobalt Blue’s powers stem from his special talisman, which wielded him the ability of energy projection, create objects out of flame, could use his hatred to steal objects and powers, heal, and superhuman speed. The last ability stems from the speed force he stole from various Flashes.

Moreover, Cobalt Blue is quite skilled in swordsmanship, which he could combine with a talisman to project energy blasts. We saw a glimpse of Cobalt Blue in Arrowverse, and it seems we will get a slightly different version of the character in The Flash series.

Why does he look like Eddie Thawne, and what is his agenda for the series finale? Let’s find out!

Who is Cobalt Blue in The Flash series?

Now, this character might’ve been teased all the way back in season one of The Flash series. When Eddie Thawne died, he had a strange necklace around his neck that resembled the blue flame talisman from Cobalt Blue in the comics. This might be a stretch, but the same showrunners resolved the Nora Allen murder scene, as the season nine Flash became the Flash of the original timeline.

After the previous episodes, season one is heavily discussed on The Flash forums because the writers could go a few routes with Cobalt Blue’s origin story – he could be Eddie Thawne from season one without memories, or he is actually a Thawne but was adopted by Gilmore’s in this context.

Ultimately, it all depends on the year Malcolm Gilmore is currently in, and if he is from the future, he may be Eddie Thawne’s son. We won’t know for sure what is the character’s agenda and origin until the next episodes, but we know that he is definitely Cobalt Blue because of the talisman we saw in episode ten of The Flash.

We also saw Malcolm Gilmore hit with the negative speed force, which most definitely gave him the speedster powers, and apart from that, we barely know anything about his character. However, we have something to look forward to since “A New World, Part One” was arguably one of the best episodes of The Flash series ever, and that says a lot about how showrunners want to see off the longest-standing Arrowverse DC show on television.

We will definitely know more in the second part of The Flash series finale.

Liked this article? Join the community on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!