Last year Barry Allen took a trip to Starling City for two episodes of Arrow, as a way to introduce the character and set him up for his own Flash spinoff. That spinoff is now in production, with cameras rolling all month long in Vancouver. Things seem to be going smoothly, too, and we recently got our first official look at Grant Gustin in costume as the scarlet speedster. Now, we’ve learned that two other characters from the Flash universe will be making their television debut on Arrow as well.
Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes were cast in the Flash pilot a few months ago, as S.T.A.R. Labs employees Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, respectively. Snow is a bioengineer who lost her fiance during the particle accelerator explosion that gave Barry his powers, and fans of the comics will recognize her as DC’s latest incarnation of the villain Killer Frost. Cisco Ramon, on the other hand, is described as “a mechanical engineering genius and the youngest member of the team of scientists” at S.T.A.R. Labs, who will go on to become the future Justice League member Vibe.
Executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that the characters will be making “an important appearance” on episode 19 of Arrow, which airs in April.
“This was something that really came about because obviously Barry is in a coma at the end of Episode 9. That pretty much made it impossible for Barry to appear in [Episode 20, as originally planned]… The idea of bringing in those characters really, really appealed to us because it allowed us to honor our original intention [of] doing something Flash-related around Episode 19 or 20 without having comatose Barry and basically paying Grant Gustin a lot of money to sit around with his eyes closed just unconscious the whole episode… This episode is really cool. It allows us to further flesh out the Flash universe in Arrow.”
It’s exciting to see that the producers are continuing to explore the idea of an Arrow/Flash crossover by utilizing these supporting characters. It’s a great way for them to show that these series are connected, without relying on the Flash visiting Green Arrow, or vice versa. Of course, as a fan it would be fun to see more interaction between the two titular heroes, but at this point I’ll take what I can get. Plus, with Flash characters appearing on Arrow, it means that some of Oliver Queen’s compatriots could one day make a trip to Central City if needed. And who knows, if this proves successful, maybe DC can use Arrow as a way of testing the waters for other characters they might want to introduce somewhere down the line?
