The Flash Season 8 is setting the stage for a Glee reunion between Grant Gustin, the quintessential speedster himself, and Max Adler as meta-villain The Hotness.
Adler is set to reprise his role as Jaco Birch (aka The Hotness), who appeared in Season 4 of The Flash. Birch is imbued with the meta-power of pyrokinetics, giving him the ability to create and control fire with his mind. This supernatural ability was granted to him, like many others in the show, through happenstance. A victim of Eric Frye (played by Oliver Rice) as a hostage during a bank robbery in Central City, resulting in Frye’s pyrokinetic abilities being transmitted to Birch -- launching his newfound purpose as a supervillain.
Both Gustin and Adler each played key roles in Fox’s hit series Glee, which won a Golden Globe for Best Television Series (Comedy) and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Gustin played the recurring role of Sebastion Smythe in Season 3 through 5 of Glee, overlapping with Adler’s breakout role as Dave Karofsky, who appeared throughout the entire tenure of the long-running television series.
Adler’s on-screen credits reach far beyond just this, appearing in three seasons of the Peabody Award-Winning series Switched at Birth, and guest appearances on fan-favorite shows such as The Big Bang Theory, The Rookie, Mom, 911, and Shameless, among many others. Adler has also broken into the world of film, securing roles with legendary directors such as in Woody Allen’s Cafe Society, Clint Eastwood’s Sully, and Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 where he also served as co-executive producer of the project.
The two now have the chase to reconnect as castmates and rivals, pitting hero against villain in their inevitable confrontation. Perhaps Glee fans can hope for another musical episode like in Season 3’s "Duet," which would be quite fitting considering Gustin and Adler’s shared past. Season 8 of The Flash will premiere November 16 on The CW.