The Flash: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References in "Things You Can't Outrun"

Tonight saw the introduction of Ronnie Raymond -- a key DC Comics superhero and member of the Justice League for a long time -- on The Flash. That tells you that, yeah, it's a week where stuff is likely going to be referenced with winks and nods.

And it was. Not quite as much as the pilot, but certainly more than last week, DC's world and history got put on display a bit.

What did we spot? What did we miss? Read on...!

Blue Devil II

Appparently the Blue Devil movie advertised on the side of buses during Arrow's second season did so well that a mere year later there's a second installlment of the franchise.

Blue Devil, of course, is a DC Comics character who was a stuntman in the Blue Devil film franchise before an attack by a demon bonded him with his costume and made him into a literal blue devil. He first appeared as a backup, ironically enough, in a Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man issue.

The Rita Farr Story

Apparently the story of Rita Farr, a member of Doom Patrol who, like Blue Devil, used to be a Hollywood stunt performer before getting powers -- in her case, as Eliasti-Girl.

Waid Boulevard

In the tradition of both Arrow and The Flash's first two episodes, the street name where the car chase takes place in the first scene is that of a creator with close ties to the character: in this case, Mark Waid, who wrote The Flash for many years and whose run is widely considered one of the high water marks for the character.

"A museum built in my name"

Barry is being hyperbolic when he says that he doesn't do what he does for fame and doesn't want "a museum built in my name," but in the comics there is indeed a Flash Museum, which is a key location in a number of stories.

The Orloff Case

In the comics, Professor Pytor Orloff is a Soviet bio-geneticist responsible for the creation of the "Red Trinity," a group of genetically-enhanced speedsters.

When Jerry McGee, the husband of Tina (who has been cast in the series for upcoming episodes), was kidnapped, Wally West (then The Flash) went to the Soviet Union to rescue him and was briefly de-powered as a result of a battle with Vandal Savage. Orloff assisted Wally in getting back -- ahem -- up to speed.

Ronnie Raymond

Even though we've already noted this, it's worth saying one more time since this is Robbie Amell's first on-camera appearance. Amell, cousin to Arrow star Stephen, is playing Ronnie Raymond, one-half of the Justice Leaguer Firestorm. His other half will be Victor Garber as Professor Stein, whom we haven't yet met.

Judge Howard?

We're crowdsourcing this one -- is there a Flash-affiliated creator whose last name is Howard? On Arrow, most of the judges were named for DC Comics employees, and having the judge name-dropped three times despite having basically a cameo felt like it was meaningful, but we can't find anything offhand.

Big Belly Burger

Just like on Arrow, the characters on The Flash sometimes eat at DC's favorite fast food joint.

"Like fire and ice"

Caitlin refers to she and Ronnie as having been opposites that complimented each other: they were "like fire and ice." A funny enough one, since in the comics, they characters look like they do above...!

The Mist

Oh, yeah...The Mist.

The central antagonist of this episode, Kyle Nimbus, is actually a longtime villain to Flash and, more recently, Starman. In the comics, he's been around since World War I and was a villain to the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick.

Central City Police Department

Since we missed this last week and a BUNCH of readers pointed it out -- yes, the giant mural on the wall in the Central City Police Department depicts what appear to be a number of Greco-Roman gods, including Mercury with his "Jay Garrick helmet."

Charles Watson, below in the comments, adds:

I'd like to point out that the seal, which made JUSTICE the largest word on it, only has seven Greek/Roman Gods rather than the 12 known to be on Olympus. I think it's more of a Justice League reference than anything. The first three on the Seal are (and I'm only going to mention their Greek names due purely to that being what I prefer) Zeus, Hera, and oddly enough Hades, who wasn't known to spend time on Mount Olympus or around the other Gods. So obviously, Zeus would be Superman, both are the leaders of their respective group and considered the most powerful. Hera would obviously fit as Wonder Woman and I don't think that even needs any further elaboration. Batman would be Hades, both prefer the darkness and are typically loners. The next two are Hermes, which is obviously the Flash, and Apollo, who was a hunter and even has a quiver of arrows on his back, so he would be the Green Arrow. Then you Hephaestus, an inventor, which would seem to fit as Atom, but was constantly surrounded by fire, so could also be Firestorm, and finally Poseidon who would be Aquaman. Sorry that was so long but I felt the need to point out all of my evidence of that being a reference to the Justice League.

Reactor Area 52

DC is never shy with the "52" references on Arrow and The Flash, and tonight, we established one that will likely recur quite a bit. Area 52 within the reactor is where they'll be housing metahuman criminals from now on.

A firestorm

Yes, while it's not technically a reference, many fans will likely note that the cloud of energy pouring through the reactor and ultimately causing the "death" of Ronnie Raymond resembled the orange fire that makes up Firestorm's head.

Oh! And the logo on the outside of the vault has the Firestorm logo on it, according to a tweet from Amell.