With Arrow continuing to dig deeper and deeper into its second season, the new Flash show continues to build. Earlier this week it was revealed that Law and Order star Jesse L. Martin has joined the upcoming pilot as Detective West, the surrogate father to Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin), and now two more names have signed on to the anticipated project. Deadline reports that actors Rick Cosnett and Danielle Panabaker are now set to star in the first episode of the potential comic book television series playing characters that fans of the Scarlet Speedster should be familiar with.
The show is expected to be an origin story about the Flash, which was first set up in the mid-season finale of Arrow last year when Barry Allen was trapped in the wave of an exploision that winds up given him incredible superpowers that allow him to run at superhuman speeds. Cosnett will be playing Detective Eddie Thawne (described as "a recent transfer to the Central City Police Department, whose past is a mystery and who harbors a dark secret"), while Panabaker will be playing Caitlin Snow ("a highly intelligent bioengineering expert who lost her fiancé during an explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs").
Both Thawne and Snow are characters that originate in DC Comics and will likely end up being antagonistic forces for Barry Allen in the show. Thawne is probably best known by his alter egos Professor Zoom" and Reverse-Flash. In the original comics, Thawne was a fan of the Flash in the 25th century who found a way to recreate the explosion that gave Barry Allen his powers. He was then able to use the new ability to travel back in time so that he could meet his hero, but the process ended up twisting his mind. Check him out in action below:
Caitlin Snow is another character that winds up experiencing a villainous turn, as she is eventually one of the characters who winds up taking on the name Killer Frost (get it? because of her last name?). As you can probably guess from the name, she has the ability to manipulate cold and ice, which could be a great way to stop somebody who is moving at incredible speeds. At this time it's unclear exactly if the Flash pilot or the potential series will play out these origin stories.
Both Cosnett and Panabaker have a good deal of experience working on the small screen. The former is probably best known for playing Dr. Wes Maxfield on The Vampire Diaries (a role that may disappear should Flash get a series pick-up), while Panabaker most recently appeared in episodes of The Glades, Mad Men and Necessary Roughness. The new project is currently in development and is expected to start filming this year.
