A new episode of The Flash airs tonight at 8PM (ET) on The CW, and in anticipation of that, we spoke with Michael Reventar, who plays one of two villains to appear in tonight’s episode, which is called “Power Outage.”
Reventar plays Farooq, also known as “Blackout” in the Flash comics. The character first appeared in DC Comics’ event Flashpoint.
Our questions to Mr. Reventar are presented in bold while his answers are not. Enjoy:
MICHAEL REVENTAR: He’s got the ability to siphon electricity, harness it, and throw it. What’s interesting about that he’s called an “electrical vampire.” They say that in the episode. He’s basically cursed with the urge to “drink” electricity, and we see that play out, because it’s not that he relishes in this power. He has no other choice but to drink and seek out electricity, and that’s the thing. The Flash is a source of electricity himself, with energy because of the speed. In [doing] that, he drains him of his speed.
So when the Flash goes even faster, that would theoretically bring even more power to Blackout, is that correct?
Absolutely. It gets to the point where he “drinks” from him, he takes in so much that Blackout actually has to stop.
Do they reveal anything about Farooq’s background before we see him in Central City?
Yeah, that’s what’s kind of unique with this metahuman. We get to see who he is before, and not spoken of by STAR Labs, but they actually show it. He starts off as kind of a carefree, fun-loving young man who wants to see the particle accelerator turned on. He’s with some friends, and he climbs up a transmission tower to see it during the storm. He gets hit by lighting, his friends die in the process, and a year later, after coming out of a coma, he comes looking for Dr. Harrison Wells because he learns that that’s the man responsible for the accelerator explosion, and therefore, the death of his friends.
I’d have to say that his judgement’s clouded. What’s unique about him is he is a full-out monster. He definitely gets a reaction. I was told that he looks even crazier in the episode. He’s literally just seeing red, trying to beeline for Dr. Harrison Wells. He’s not even thinking about what he’s doing. But, there’s a really cool thing that happens where an unexpected character extends an olive branch to Blackout in a way, and says “I know that you can’t control this. Let me help you.”
One of your earliest credits was an episode of Alphas. Do you feel you’re coming full circle, now playing a character with powers of your own?
Absolutely. That was what was kind of amazing about Alphas – it was every day people with these supernatural powers. The fascinating thing that we have about these universes, is the supernatural “what if I could? What if I did?” That’s what I loved about Alphas.
So to see it now come full circle and be part of this world, I mean, I’ve always dreamed of it. I’ve always loved it. I’m an artist, and I always drew it. And to play it, and to see it come alive, literally, I could not stop thinking about it. And that’s the truth.
You just mentioned having been an artist. Did you ever find yourself drawing The Flash?
No! You know why? I was always drawing anything dark. This is why it was perfect for me to play Blackout, because I was always drawing the dark, but it would have to be for good reasons. That’s why I love Batman. I drew Batman thousands of times. I even drew Batman playing basketball one time. But just that dichotomy.
What was it that excited you about playing a character like Blackout?
I love these characters because they’re so superhuman – metahumans, but there’s so much humanity to them. And that’s what I loved about playing Blackout. He is a monster, but I never closed him in. The man that was in there, why he was doing what he was doing, and the hurt he had… I’m excited to see how that plays out in the show.
Once you got the role, did you pick up the Flashpoint comics that he was featured in?
Yeah, I actually did! I have some friends buy some for me. I went to Silver Snail Comics. I was introduced to the owner there, George Zotti, and he told me about him, and he even has some stuff that he’s been giving me. Actually, 400 of us are getting together to watch the episode live. The comic book store is bringing about 200 of them personally. So we’ll have real fanboys going nuts. It’s going to be like a playoff game, as we watch it. We’re going to have a whole lot of fun.
Right now, the truth is, I don’t know. If you ask me? I know exactly how he needs to come back, and what needs to happen. But the writers have been amazing at closing the chapter but not ending the story. Anything can happen now.
Why should people be tuning in tonight?
The Flash is the only show on television you can watch with your whole family. It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 or 80. That’s the best thing about being on it, is that I’ve met people, and they watch it as a family, just as Greg Berlanti wanted.
The Flash airs at 8PM on The CW. Take a look at some preview images from the episode at our Flash portal, FlashTVNews!
