PaleyFest LA 2015: ‘The Flash’ Panel Recap

On Saturday March 14, The Paley Center for Media held a panel discussion for The CW’s The Flash as part of PaleyFest LA 2015. Moderated by comedian Aisha Tyler (Archer, Girl on Guy), the panel included producers Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti, and stars Rick Cosnett, Candice Patton, Jesse L. Martin, Tom Cavanagh, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, and The Flash himself, Grant Gustin.

Recently released promo image

Overall, the cast and producers attempted to remain very tight lipped during this panel, making sure not to drop any huge spoilers or scoops on whats to come from The Flash in upcoming episodes. Some actors did give some insight into where they believe their characters may be heading. Candice Patton, who plays Iris West, talked about how as of right now she is one of the few characters who doesn’t know Barry’s superhero identity. She predicts being constantly lied to by her family and friends will affect her relationships in the future, stating Iris will feel “a huge sense of betrayal.”

Other panelists mainly discussed their experiences working on a show like The Flash, as Jesse L. Martin stated that even though he is playing a detective again as he did on Law & Order, this role is still very different than anything he’s done.

While the cast tried not to reveal any secrets, some hints and innuendos were occasionally dropped. Tom Cavanagh stating that “Harrison Wells is just a guy who wants to get home,” does seemingly confirm that Wells is indeed from another time. As to how and why the Reverse-Flash, who we know is Harrison Wells, was seen fighting himself in “The Man in the Yellow Suit”, Andrew Kreisberg responded we’re “going to get the answers to what happened in episode nine very soon.”

Jesse L. Martin also stated “I’m working with a big monkey”, which definitely confirms Detective West will share some screen time with upcoming villain Gorilla Grodd. Carlos Valdes and Danielle Panabaker, who play Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow respectively, couldn’t reveal what exactly happens to their characters in upcoming episodes. Aisha Tyler brought up how the two become meta-humans of their own in the comics: Cisco becoming Vibe and Caitlin becoming Killer Frost. Whether or not their characters will evolve into these forms is unclear at the moment, as this first season is delving more into developing Barry Allen/The Flash. Carlos Valdes states maybe it’ll happen “a little later”.

There was a lot of talk about how time travel comes into play on The Flash. As those who have been watching already know, Barry plans on traveling back in time to try and save his mother from being killed by the Reverse-Flash. During the discussion we do get confirmation that altering the past may drastically alter the present as it does in most science fiction time travel stories. On top of that Andrew Kreisberg also stated, “there’s a fairly big Flash storyline from the comics that we’re going to tackle in the future.”

Flashpoint #1

Kreisberg may be referring to the Geoff Johns written story, Flashpoint, which launched Barry Allen into an alternate universe after his mother’s murder was prevented. On the show, if Barry does save his mother, the show can easily tell their own version of Flashpoint and maybe even bring Arrow along for a tie-in crossover episode.

Of course there are other stories Kreisberg may be referring to. The pilot episode of The Flash may have teased Crisis on Infinite Earths, the classic mid-80s DC Comics storyline which not only dealt with alternate universes, but subsequently killed off Barry Allen until his eventual “rebirth” in the mid-2000s.

Perhaps the biggest tidbit of information confirmed by Greg Berlanti was the inclusion of other speedsters on The Flash. When asked by a member of the audience if they would be “introducing any characters such as Wally West or Bart Allen onto the series”, Berlanti responded with “that’s our hope,” and “we’ve already been picked up for a second year, so I think if we were going to do something like that we would do it next year.”

In the comics (Spoiler Alert!) Wally West is the nephew of Iris West, who after spending a lot of time as The Flash’s sidekick, Kid Flash, takes on the mantle of The Flash after Barry “died” in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Bart Allen, a.k.a. Impulse, is Barry’s grandson from the future.

Now those are two characters I’d definitely like to see them pull off on The Flash. How about you? Would you like to see other speedsters make their way onto the small screen alongside Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen? What were your thoughts on The Flash‘s PaleyFest 2015 panel discussion? Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

You can check out the full PaleyFest panel on Yahoo! Screen to hold you over until The Flash returns Tuesday, March 17 on The CW. Also, check out a few photos from the event below courtesy of The Paley Center for Media.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.