Winter is a bitter time. Frigid temperatures. Everything slows down. As the temperature decreases the molecules in water slow down. Slower. Slower. Until it eventually turns to ice.
Cold is the enemy of speed. Arguably the greatest of superheroes, DC’s The Flash, often faces cold-themed villains. The blizzard conditions outside my home remind me of two villains especially made for January—Captain Cold and Killer Frost.
Captain Cold’s not-so-cold heart
Leonard Snart is a world-class thief and leader of the Rogues—a group of the Flash’s villains. While not a meta-human, his tactical genius, eidetic memory, and ruthless personality makes Snart a formidable foe to Barry Allen. Add in the technology of his cold gun and Captain Cold can slow down speedsters.
Captain Cold starts out a villain, moves towards anti-hero, and even becomes a hero in the CW’s Arrowverse. In the first season of The Flash, Snart is presented as a cold and calculated criminal. Barry Allen reaches a pact with Cold to allow his heists to continue so long as no one gets killed in the process. When helping the heroes fight mutual foes Captain Cold first wants to know the benefits to him before offering assistance. He told Barry Allen, “First rule of business. Always protect yourself” (Season One Episode 22 Rogue Air, The Flash).
Under his cold emotionless exterior are glimpses of something warmer, something more—a heart. “I finally found out your secret. You would do anything to protect your sister. There is good in you,” Barry tells Snart. This truth acted like ice in a crack in the cement. Slowly Captain Cold’s actions became less selfishness. Centered on helping others. His sister Lisa. Team Flash.
In Legends of Tomorrow, Snart truly became a hero. Helping Rip Hunter and the other Legends prevent or correct time anomalies and chaos in history. His transformation into a hero became complete when Captain Cold sacrificed himself in the penultimate episode of Season One (Destiny) to save the rest of his Legends team.
Killer Frost—what’s in a name?
Similar to Leonard Snart, Killer Frost has the ability to slow down Barry Allen and other Speed Force users with sub-zero temperatures. Her abilities did not come from technology, but rather from being a meta-human.
Unlike most villains, Killer Frost does not exist by herself, she is the alternate personality of the Star Labs scientist Caitlin Snow. Caitlin’s father Thomas Snow, conducted cryogenic gene experiments on her as a kid to cure her ASL gene that he passed on to her. Although Killer Frost was repressed for years, eventually the evil personality manifested in Caitlin in Season 3 of the Flash.
Teaming up with the evil speedster Savitar, Killer Frost prominently took over Caitlin. Both personalities fought for control. At the end of Season 3, Caitlin was able to regain control save her team from Killer Frost. The defeat of Savitar also led to the apparent erasing of the Killer Frost side of Caitlin from existence.
Returning in Season 4, Killer Frost starts out villainous, but starts to slowly move toward humanity. Her return to good was a team effort. Struggling with temptation and evil is something we also don’t have to face alone. In Season 4 Episode 22 of The Flash, Caitlin says, “It’s not a burden if we shoulder it together.”
Killer Frost definitely still has an icy exterior, but like Snart, her inner goodness does show. Seasons 5 and 6 have Frost becoming more selfless and team oriented.
Love is a Furnace against the harshness of hate
Life is 100% about love. Natural fire destroys. It is also ineffective in melting subzero temperatures. The Captain Cold and Killer Frost’s cold hearts could not be melted by simple niceties or logical reasoning. Only love was able to penetrate the icy walls they created to keep others out.
Barry Allen, the Paragon of Love (revealed on Crisis on Infinite Earths) proved instrumental in transforming Leonard Snart and Killer Frost. Love taught these villains the meaning of sacrifice and selflessness.
We too can look to the example of Captain Cold and Killer Frost. A person is never too far gone. The supernatural fire of divine love transforms. The greatest of sinners when they repented became the greatest of saints. Harsh biting hate melted away in the furnace of love.
Matt Chicoine
Matthew Chicoine is a free-lance writer, a life-long Catholic, and an avid truth seeker. He earned an M.A. in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2014 and enjoys binge reading Tolkien, Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Fulton Sheen and comic books. Visit his blog at https://thesimplecatholic.