With more and more comic book characters being adapted into live-action every week, it’s getting harder and harder to determine the ‘vigilantes’ from the certified ‘superheroes.’ But if there’s one thing that The Flash made clear immediately, it’s that a truly accomplished hero needs a suit just as impressive as one’s abilities – and a mask doesn’t hurt, either.

The addition of Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) was taken to superhero levels of special effects faster than any expected – showing the troubled metahuman to already capable of flight – but when Raymond returns to take new steps towards becoming the DC Comics hero known as Firestorm, some things will be changing. Specifically, the first technology on his path to a “badass” costume.

When the first official look at the Firestorm ‘costume’ was released, it wasn’t quite what fans were expecting to see. Besides the strange piece of tech strapped to the character’s chest, the clothing seemed fairly unimpressive. We now know that the device in question is known as the Splicer, but how it hopes to stabilize the fused forms of Ronnie Raymond and Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) is still a mystery. But not for much longer.

Ahead of his return in tonight’s episode of The Flash, Amell explained to ComicBook.com that he was just as disappointed to see his character’s ‘costume’ revealed with so little fanfare, since the very description is a bit… misleading:

“I was actually a little upset when they posted the pictures that they did of the costumes. It really just happens to be the jacket that Robbie’s wearing when the splicer’s put on. The splicer is removable in our version of the character. Whatever he’s wearing at the time can be turned into the costume. I’m sure down the road, there will be a legit costume but for the time being, it’s just whatever he’s wearing at the time when the splicer’s put on and then it’s time to go to work, that happens to be the costume.

“That’s just the clothes that he’s wearing when the splicer goes on. I’m sure down the road, Cisco will make him some sort of fireproof this and – he’ll do something Cisco-y and he’ll have a badass costume.”

Amell’s promise of a more impressive costume is clearly not alluding to concrete plans, although the recent reveal of Brandon Routh’s A.T.O.M. armor shows how far The CW showrunners’ production team has come. But with constant talk of more DC Comics spinoffs in the works, and Firestorm’s first foe apparently The Flash himself, there may be reason to speculate that Amell will soon by wearing a leading-man-quality costume before long.

Both Amell and Garber maintain that if The CW has plans for their character, they haven’t been let in on the secret. Even so, Amell claims that fans will be talking about his return and the ensuing “incredible” fight scene - and goes as far as to tease an even bigger event in the near future:

“On paper, I couldn’t believe that this was something we were going to shoot on television. On paper, it felt like a $150 million movie scene. I’ve seen little snippets of it and I couldn’t be more excited to see the full fight scene.

“After that, you get to see a little bit of a fight scene with Firestorm and General Eiling, which is pretty cool… But there’s no holding back with this character and it sounds like I’ll be back. They haven’t made anything official but it sounds like I’ll be back for the end of the season… And if what they’re telling me about comes to be, it’s going to absolutely blow people away.”

That’s more than enough to get fans speculating that such a strong response to Firestorm’s introduction (aided by the amount of time and budget spent on delivering a memorable scene or two) could tip the spinoff scales in his favor. After all, a multi-episode guest spot before a later backdoor pilot was the original plan for Grant Gustin’s Flash.

What do you think of Amell’s comments? Does it sound like The CW has bigger plans for his character, or will you be satisfied when the role turns out to be short-lived, but well-executed one? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

The Flash airs Tuesdays @8pm on The CW.