The Flash is gearing up for Season 5, and apparently, the writers have more up their sleeve than Nora's timeline meddling and a pretty awesome King Shark team-up. The show just cast a recurring character for the new season, and as in the past, the folks behind the scenes are doing a gender bend to switch this comics character from a man to a woman. Just as The Flash switched the comic character known as The Top to a woman for the show, it has cast actress Kiana Madeira in the role of the traditionally-male character Spin.
In the comics, Spin's real name is Auerbach and he's the son of a media mogul. In The Flash, the character's real name will be Spencer Young, who is an aspiring "social media influencer," who jumps on the news that there's a new hero in Central City. The character description didn't specifically indicate who Spin is following, although the assumption is she's set her sights on Barry and Iris' daughter from the future, Nora. Spencer, or "Spin," will try to make herself famous with the discovery as Deadline reports the character will debut on The Flash sometime during Episode 4.
As fans might have put together, The Flash changed more than just the gender of the villain Spin, as there's a case to be made that this is an entirely new character altogether. For that reason, it's hard to say just what role "Spin" will play in the series at this point, although traditionally, the comic book character was a villain. The comic version of Spin was able to affect The Flash's life through a meta he met named Edward Martinez, who is capable of sensing and empathizing with people's feelings. Spin then forced Martinez to watch the news and was able to twist the meta's fears and anxieties he gathered from the public into a reality and turn the world against The Flash.
It's possible Kiana Madeira's Spencer Young could achieve something similar via social media, although with so little information about her character at the present, it may be best just to wait and see rather than jump to conclusions.
Kiana Madeira comes into The Flash fresh of her appearance as Angel in the Facebook Watch series Sacred Lies. Madeira is no stranger to shows with a sci-fi element and has appeared in small roles in programs like Dark Matter, Wynonna Earp, and My Babysitter's A Vampire. Now she's a part of the Arrow-verse, and with her role as a recurring actor on the series now a sure thing, she has the opportunity to take on the mantle of fan-favorite side character due to Wentworth Miller's departure.
The Flash returns for Season 5 Tuesday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Superhero show lovers who want to catch each and every show coming out in the near future should bookmark our superhero premiere guide to stay in the loop. Those looking for great television in general might be better served by visiting our summer and fall premiere guides.
