The Flash receives a brand-new nemesis for season 6, but who exactly is Bloodwork and what makes him such a formidable foe for Barry Allen and his team? Though far from one of the most infamous from The Flash’s rogues gallery, he comes directly from the comics, most notably from The Flash’s most recent continuity. But with a wholly unique powerset, he’s like no villain Team Flash has ever dealt with - especially when compared to the vast array of speedsters that have plagued the show’s heroes in past seasons.
Season 6 looks to be an especially busy and harrowing time for Barry Allen and his team. As seen at the end of The Flash season 5, the timeline had been so drastically altered that Barry’s long prophesied disappearance was now set to occur at a much earlier point in time. With Crisis on Infinite Earths confirmed as the next crossover event, and already teased in the season finales for the rest of the Arrowverse shows, season 6 tackles that ill-fated destiny and its subsequent fallout head-on. Unlike previous crossovers, that provided merely a diversion from the collective shows’ main threads, Crisis of Infinite Earths is so pivotal to season 6 that showrunner Eric Wallace revealed that the season would be split up into two distinct storylines - pre-Crisis and post-Crisis.
One of those storylines has Central City plagued by the villain known as Bloodwork. As teased in the Flash season 6 trailer, Bloodwork comes armed with an agenda that ties directly into the themes of the season. At the end of season 5, both Barry and his wife, Iris, were left mourning the loss of their daughter. Having traveled back from the future, the grown-up version of Nora West-Allen attempted to help stop the infamous serial killer Cicada. Unfortunately, her efforts turned out to be a result of the Reverse-Flash’s machinations and his desire to save his own life. Eobard Thawne managed to achieve those goals, but not without changing the timeline and thus forcing Barry and Iris to watch as Nora was erased from existence. Also revealed by Wallace is the fact that The Flash season 6 doesn’t shy away from that grief - potentially allowing Bloodwork and his goals to strike a particularly resonant nerve with Barry.
Who Is DC’s Bloodwork?
Created by Joshua Williamson, Bloodwork debuted in 2017’s The Flash Vol. 5 #29 as part of DC Rebirth. Only appearing in four issues, Bloodwork served as a brief yet extremely memorable antagonist. Ramsay Rosso, as he is otherwise known, was diagnosed as a hemophiliac when he was a child. As such, he was treated like a porcelain doll by his parents and family. Following an incident at school - which saw him receive a cut and almost die from the blood loss - he learned of his condition and what it was called. From that point on, Rosso developed a fascination with blood and invulnerability.
In adulthood, Rosso began working in the morgue of the Central City Police Department. The job provided the perfect cover for his experiments. Knowing he couldn’t run the risk of experimenting on his body, he instead focused his attention on blood, trying to fundamentally alter it on a cellular level. Stealing from blood samples from evidence and the DOA patients that were brought into the morgue, Rosso tinkered with the blood of humans and metahumans alike, until he was successful in creating something new.
Despite eliminating witness and burning the evidence, Rosso’s experiments were ultimately uncovered by The Flash. After injecting himself with the results of his work, however, Rosso was transformed. Now calling himself Bloodwork, the increasingly deranged scientist managed to overpower both The Flash and the police force before going on a vengeful rampage. Continuing to transform and growing increasingly more powerful, Bloodwork ultimately came close to destroying a large part of Central City. Harnessing the power of the Negative Speed Force, however, The Flash was ultimately able to halt his plans and bring him down.
Bloodwork’s Powers & Abilities Explained
Bloodwork has a host of abilities that make him truly unique in the show’s already extensive pantheon of foes. From the moment Rosso injected himself with his blood serum, the scientist was not only cured of his hemophilia but became invulnerable to almost any injury. This fact is demonstrated when The Flash used his lightning to send Rosso flying from the building. Despite crashing hard to the ground, Bloodwork was able to walk away completely unharmed. Rosso’s formula could even slow down the aging process, rendering him nearly immortal.
One of the other side effects of Rosso’s serum was that he was now able to generate blood at will - both inside and outside of his body. Using this particular skill, Bloodwork could transform his flesh to have a blood-like quality and alter his shape, giving him an appearance not wholly dissimilar from Marvel’s Carnage. The blood-generation ability also allowed him to create seemingly endless tendrils, through which he could bind and incapacitate enemies as well as almost consume downtown Central City. Bloodwork can also control and affect the blood of others, often making his opponents feel as though they’re burning.
Unfortunately for Bloodwork, his abilities related directly to his heartbeat. The faster and more strongly it beats, the greater and more powerful Bloodwork became. Therefore, comparatively, calming him down had the effect of making him weaker. And stopping his heart, even temporarily, as Barry Allen did with the Negative Speed Force, halts Bloodwork’s powers and returns him to his human form.
Bloodwork In Flash Season 6
The Flash’s interpretation of Ramsay Rosso is played by Sendhil Ramamurthy. The actor is probably best known for his work as Mohinder Suresh on Heroes. He appeared on all four seasons, before later reprising the role in the 2015 continuation, Heroes Reborn. Rather than working at the Central City morgue, and thus in close proximity with Barry Allen, however, the show’s version of Rosso is instead described as “a brilliant physician with a genius intellect, and the world’s leading expert on hematological oncology”.
Introduced as an old friend and colleague of Caitlin Snow’s, the two are reunited following “unexpected event”. As is often the case in The Flash, Rosso’s outwardly, altruistic nature inevitably gives way to something darker and insidious. Though his profession is a change from the comics, his particular branch of medicine, however, still puts him squarely in frequent contact with death and the dying. Because of that, the character’s obsession from the comics easily translates over to the show. It also adds a potentially even creepier, more disturbing element to his experiments.
As seen in the trailer, Rosso declares death to be the true enemy and has made it his mission to ensure that nobody ever dies again. That goal will no doubt have a deep, emotional resonance with the themes season 6 seeks to explore. After all, when the season opens, Barry and his team are still mourning the death of a loved one. Not only that, with Crisis on Infinite Earths approaching, there is also the question of Barry’s own impending disappearance/death on the horizon. As such, not only does Bloodwork’s powers offer the show the rare opportunity to be slightly more gruesome in tone but his relatable agenda also paves the way for complex questions about life, the effects of grief, and even the importance of death - especially for superheroes who also double as grieving parents.
More: What To Expect From The Flash Season 6
The Flash season 6 premieres Tuesday, October 8 on The CW.
