Casting continues for The CW’s Flash pilot, as we’ve learned who will play Iris West and Cisco Ramon, alias Vibe.
The Game alum Candice Patton will play Iris West, Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) “fast-talking, quick-witted best friend,” reports Deadline. We’re guessing it was Iris that Barry meant in Arrow season 2, episode 9 “Three Ghosts” when he told Felicity that he knew a thing or two about having feelings for someone who didn’t feel the same.
Iris is also the daughter of Detective West (Jesse L. Martin), surrogate father to Barry. Barry’s father is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife, though Barry believes his father to be innocent and seeks to clear his name.
The Arrow spinoff also cast Broadway actor Carlos Valdes to play Cisco Ramon, alias Vibe. The character is described as “a mechanical engineering genius and the youngest member of the team of scientists at STAR Labs.”
STAR Labs, of course, built the particle accelerator that malfunctioned in Arrow season 2, episode 9 “Three Ghosts,” resulting in an explosion that gave Barry his powers and put him in a coma.
Valdes, who currently plays Andrej in the Broadway musical Once, and Patton join Gustin, Martin, Rick Cosnett (Eddie Thawne) and Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow) in the pilot.
Between Gustin, Martin, and Valdes, we can only hope for a musical episode of The Flash.
The Flash pilot was originally envisioned as a backdoor pilot at the end of this season of Arrow, but after Barry’s introduction in episodes 8 and 9 was particularly well-received by CW higher ups, the network opted for the standalone pilot approach to introduce the world of The Flash.
Barry Allen debuted in the Arrow mid-season finale as a Central City crime scene investigator who arrives in the Arrow’s (Stephen Amell) home city of Starling to investigate a series of strange robberies with a possible connection to his past.
Barry Allen’s introductory episode of Arrow, “The Scientist,” will re-air on Feb. 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.