The CW recently released its first sneak promo of next week's episode of The Flash. In that preview, we get our first good look at a brand new villain, known as the Pied Piper.

But who exactly is this mysterious Pied Piper? And what's his history with Dr. Harrison Wells and Barry Allen?

In The Flash TV series, The CW released details that Pied Piper is actually Hartley Rathaway (Andrew Mientus) and that he was once a protégée of Dr. Wells. And that means he's mad at the good doctor because his powers came from that particle accelerator explosion that created the other bad guys in Central City, as well as The Flash. So, of course, he's going after Dr. Wells with his ability to manipulate sound waves. And that means that The Flash has to stop him.

However, in the world of DC Comics, Rathaway is much more interesting. He was born deaf, but later cured because his rich father paid for the research to do so. However, that experience left him obsessed with the science of sound, which led to him figuring out how to hypnotize people with music (hence, the super villain name Pied Piper). Obviously, this puts him at odds with The Flash.

Eventually, Pied Piper gave up crime and became a champion of the poor. While doing so, he came out and was the first openly gay character in DC comics. Eventually, he and The Flash became friends.

Will The CW show this aspect of Pied Piper? It's likely because his story also ties into a future villain on the TV series this season, the Trickster (Mark Hamill). In the comics, the police arrest Rathaway for his parents' murder, but he breaks out of prison and strikes a deal with the Trickster, who is now an FBI agent.

Of course, the key difference here is the Pied Piper's powers came from the particle accelerator explosion and weren't something he invented himself. And it almost seems from the preview of this new episode that Dr. Wells is a stand-in for Rathaway's father figure.

This could change some of the character's personality from the comics, but this storyline could still work in the TV series. It's likely that The Flash will catch Pied Piper and have him locked away. And it's also likely that Mark Hamill's version of the Trickster will eventually become a good guy, thanks to the recent announcement that another version of the character, a copycat, is on his way.

Of course, it's no guarantee that The CW series will stay so close to the original source material, but so far, the series has used a lot of story elements from the comics. Considering that all these characters connect in some way in the comics, and with all being announced for this season of the TV series, this is the scenario that most likely makes sense to end up on our TV screens.

Of course, we won't know until future episodes air, but we'll all be watching The Flash on The CW on Tuesdays. In the meantime, watch the preview for Episode 11, "The Sound and the Fury."

[Photo Credit: The CW]