Having known since last month that Cicada will serve as the big bad throughout The Flash‘s fifth season, it’s about time we begin learning more about the guest villains popping up in Central City over the course of the next year. And as it turns out, there’s been a change made to the one we’re going to discuss today that’ll throw the comic book readers among you for a loop.
You see, Kiana Madeira (Sacred Lies) has been brought aboard in a recurring role, as she’ll be playing Spencer Young AKA Spin. Should you be familiar with the character’s literary counterpart, then you’ve no doubt picked up on the fact that the producers have done some gender-swapping in this case.
According to Deadline, Spin “is a young aspiring social media influencer who seizes the opportunity to make herself famous when she discovers there is a new hero in Central City. Spin will be introduced in episode #504.”
If I were to hazard an educated guess, I’d say the “new hero in Central City” on which she’s fixating is none other than Nora West-Allen AKA XS. After all, it’d be wise for the writers to give Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future some villains of her own so that she doesn’t seem superfluous.
Getting back to the subject of gender-swapping, this certainly wouldn’t be the first time this series has done such a thing. If you’ll recall, the Top, Bug-Eyed Bandit and the Fiddler were all men in the comics, but happened to be women once adapted to television. That said, you have to figure Spin may not be the last to undergo such treatment.
The Flash returns for its fifth season on Tuesday, October 9 on The CW.