In the lead up to the mid-season finale of Arrow last year, we got our first opportunity to meet Grant Gustin's Barry Allen, and now new reports have confirmed that the established superhero show will also serve to debut two more characters who will be a part of the upcoming Flash pilot. TV Line attended a press event for the in-development Scarlet Speedster show held earlier today and learned from Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim that Caitlin Snow, played by Danielle Panabaker, and Cisco Ramon, played by Carlos Valdes will be entering the small screen comic book universe later this season on Arrow.
As a bonus to the report, the site also has a bunch of new information about the portrayals of the two comic book characters on the show. Snow, who is known in the comics for eventually becoming the ice-controlling villain known as Killer Frost, is being written as a "bioengineering expert who lost her fiancé during the particle accelerator snafu at Central City’s S.T.A.R. Labs" (the same accident that wound up turning Barry Allen into The Flash). Ramon, meanwhile, will be introduced as a young genius working for S.T.A.R. Labs (he will also presumably eventually become the superhero Vibe, who has the ability to manipulate sonic waves).
Guggenheim also revealed that Barry Allen is going to stay in his coma in the Arrow continuity until the first episode of Flash is ready to air - which will presumably be happening this fall (who is willing to bet the first shot of the pilot is Barry waking up?). Bringing in Snow and Ramon is the way for Arrow to make a Flash-centered episode without actually involving Flash:
“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 … basically paying Grant Gustin to sit around with his eyes closed/unconscious the whole episode. This episode is really cool. It allows us to further flesh out the Flash universe on Arrow.”
While no official release date has been set yet, those episodes will presumably air in April.
Flash is currently in production with the rest of the cast including Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett and Jay Garrick. Unlike Gotham, which is moving full steam ahead with a full season order over on Fox, The CW is still playing it safe with Flash and still haven't picked up the show for multiple episodes. That situation should hopefully resolve itself in the next few months and we'll learn when exactly we'll get to see the Arrow spin-off pilot for ourselves. In the meantime, keep up with all of the latest news about the potential show HERE.
