Violet talks about our final panel of WonderCon Anaheim 2015 – The Flash panel! Read on for all the juicy details revealed in this panel, and to see our photos!
If you missed our Friday report, click here!
If you missed our Saturday report, click here!
If you missed Part 1 of our Sunday Report, click here!
The Flash Special Video Presentation and Q&A, Arena, 1:30pm-2:30pm
Our final panel at WonderCon was The Flash panel, which ended up being quite full, though it didn’t end up completely filling the room. All throughout the Powers panel beforehand, a steady stream of people kept coming into the room in anticipation of The Flash panel.
The panel kicked off with a sizzle reel trailer of what’s to come for the remainder of the season, which was released online the next day. You can watch it below.
Panelists for The Flash panel included Carlos Valdes (Cisco), Candice Patton (Iris), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin), and Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg. Apparently, Jesse Martin (Joe) was also supposed to be a part of the panel, but he got sick and had to cancel.
The moderator then discussed with the panelists some of the things that we saw in the trailer, starting with the fact that there will be another Arrow crossover episode. He asked what was their favorite part of working with the Arrow cast, and Danielle said that it’s fun to see the contrast between the lighter Flash and the darker Arrow. The crossover episode will take place in Episode 18, where Ray is having trouble with his ATOM suit, and he goes to Cisco for help.
The moderator pointed out how Cisco has a crush on Canary, and asked if there was a possibility of Cisco and Canary ever getting together. Andrew reluctantly answered, “I guess…” which didn’t sound very convincing! He then went on to comment that it was really fun to write Cisco’s interactions with Black Canary. It was explained that the reason Laurel comes to Central City is because she needs help with her Canary Cry, and Cisco builds her a new one. Andrew teased that what Laurel does for Cisco is one of his own personal favorite moments of the show!
The panel then moved on to talking about the fact that Iris is now the only one who doesn’t know Barry’s secret. However, Candice said that she thinks Iris will find out sooner rather than later, and that she would want Iris to find out on her own accord. Andrew agreed that Barry, Joe, and Eddie are making a bad choice by not telling Iris, and teased that it’s going to come back and bite them. He also went on to talk about how the revelation would affect Iris, saying that she would be more mad that they kept it from her than anything else.
The moderator also asked Candice about Iris’s crush on The Flash, and she explained that her theory is that The Flash is just a more confident form of Barry, and that everything she likes about The Flash is really what she likes about Barry.
The moderator pointed out that Danielle’s character, Caitlin, ultimately becomes a villain, Killer Frost, and tried to get her to tell us what is Caitlin’s “Achilles heel” that makes her go bad. All Danielle would say regarding Killer Frost was that, “You’ll see her sooner than you think.” He also brought up the fact that they recently filmed a wedding scene, and asked if there were wedding bells coming up for Caitlin and Ronnie. Danielle did confirm that they shot a wedding scene, but told us that it was filmed on April Fool’s Day, implying that it may not have been real.
As for the villain that Cisco ultimately becomes, Vibe, the moderator inquired as to whether Carlos tries to ask the writers and producers about that storyline and how he ends up there, but Carlos commented that it’s best not to ask questions, and that he prefers to stay in the moment and focus on the current episode. Since Cisco is always the one to create the villains’ nicknames, the moderator asked who would create Cisco’s villain name. Danielle’s hand shot straight into the air, and they gave her a hard time about the Rainbow Raider name Caitlin had come up with.
It was pointed out that Cisco and Iris never have any scenes together, so the moderator asked if they could be given more scenes together, and Andrew said, “Sure.” Candice and Carlos were glad to hear that, since they have developed a friendship on set. Later, Andrew also said that Caitlin and Iris will be given more scenes together, and that they will develop a friendship.
Andrew revealed that in Episode 20 we would see flashbacks to when Barry was in his coma and when he gets moved to STAR Labs, so we would get to see the characters’ interactions with each other during that time, including how Eddie and Iris ended up together. Andrew also revealed that Eddie would call Barry and Joe out for lying to Iris, and that it’s hard on him keeping this big secret from her.
Regarding the big reveal about the Reverse Flash actually being Eobard Thawne who had taken over Harrison Wells’s identity, Andrew talked about how Tom Cavanaugh handled this development. Andrew told us that Tom had fun creating a new version of himself. He also told us that Matt Letscher watched all of the episodes and borrowed the cadence that Tom uses as Harrison Wells for his scenes as Eobard Thawne.
The moderator then asked Candice how Iris would feel about Caitlin and Barry getting together, but Candice replied that she can’t claim Barry, saying, “I’m in a relationship, don’t ask me these questions!”
The focus then turned to Carlos, who received great praise for his portrayal of Cisco. Andrew commented, “Carlos can’t be out-Carlos’d!” Andrew also explained that Cisco is supposed to be the voice of the audience and remind people that the show is meant to be fun. Carlos also told us about how Grant Gustin (Barry) and Jesse Martin (Joe) are constantly tap dancing on set, and one time Carlos asked Grant to show him some steps. Grant tried to show him some “easy” steps, but Carlos found it way too complicated. Carlos also told us about when he first found out that Cisco was going to die. He said that Andrew came to him and said, “We’re going to kill you this episode, but don’t worry, we’re going to bring you back!”
The moderator tried to get some details out of Andrew about The Flash/Arrow spinoff series. He wouldn’t say much, but he did point out that a lot of the casting has been announced, and described the show as “insanity and off the rails.” He said that they would be setting up the spinoff show next year on The Flash and Arrow, and affirmed that characters will go back and forth between all three shows.
When the panelists were asked who they would like to work with on Arrow, Candice immediately answered, “Diggle.” She was reminded that Diggle is married, but she said, “That’s okay!” Danielle said she would like to work with Paul (Captain Lance) and Katie (Laurel), while Carlos commented that he thinks he has worked with everyone.
As for upcoming villains in Season 2, Andrew revealed Mirror Master and Dr. Alchemy, and teased that there would be one thing that people “will lose their minds over.”
Interestingly, Andrew also revealed that there is a difference in the Reverse Flash’s timeline that affects everyone, and we will find out what everyone’s futures should have been, and see their reactions.
When asked how they are like their characters, Carlos said he brings a lot of himself to Cisco. Candice said that initially she felt a lot of pressure to play an iconic character, and that she’s more like Iris than she would like to admit. However, she wasn’t so sure if Iris would be forgiving. Danielle said that she’s a caretaker like Caitlin is, and that there are definitely pieces of herself in Caitlin.
Then the panel was opened up to audience Q&A. Andrew was asked how he handles working on both Arrow and The Flash, and he talked about how they really have to stay ahead of things on The Flash, and he really didn’t know how they do it. Somehow a story came up about Emma Caulfield (who played Anya on Buffy) tweeting Andrew asking for a role in any of his shows, and he told us how they were friends and used to talk on the phone during the commercials while watching Buffy. Eventually, she landed the role of Anya on the show. Andrew assured us that Emma would be on one of the shows.
When asked what CW show they would like to crossover with, Danielle answered iZombie, Candice said Supernatural, and Carlos answered Vampire Diaries. Andrew joked that he would like to see a crossover with Whose Line!
Another question was about the different pronunciations of Ra’s al Ghul on Arrow. Andrew explained that they knew certain fans would get upset if only one particular pronunciation was used, so they made up a guideline: if you’re in the League of Assassins, you pronounce it “Raysh,” and if you’re not, you pronounce it “Roz” like the Nolan-verse interpretation.
An audience member asked if we’d ever see Wally West, and Andrew answered that he wouldn’t be surprised if one day we saw him. Another fan asked about Black Flash, and Andrew replied, “You can see anything on this show.” Andrew went on to tell us that Episode 21 is titled “Grodd Lives,” and he seemed proud of the fact that the show had a fully CG villain.
As for Andrew’s favorite Easter egg, Andrew pointed out that The Flash that was fighting Reverse Flash in Episode 17 had a white symbol on his chest, and therefore he may not be the Barry that we know!
Another big reveal was when an audience member asked where Cisco was and what he was doing at the point in the trailer when he said “This is mad freaky.” All Carlos would say was that the events of Episode 15 are not as erased as you might think, and that the alternate past is revisted in creative ways. Yet another reveal was when the panelists were asked about their favorite scenes of each other, and Carlos said that there’s an upcoming scene of Iris, where Joe is in bed, that he described as “heartbreaking.”
Regarding what they like about working on the show, Danielle said that she loves guest stars, and gushed about taking a picture of Mark Hamill. Carlos said he liked teaching Grant Gustin how to play Uno. Apparently, he had never played it before! But then he beat them the first time they played. They chalked it up to beginner’s luck.
The panelists all agreed that the biggest challenge they face on the show is the cold, which makes sense, since they film in Vancouver. The day when they filmed the scene after FIRESTORM’s explosion, it was -5 degrees, and there were huge wind machines, which made it even colder. Ronnie was supposed to be naked, but the producers got a call asking, “Do you want him to be naked, or do you want him to be alive?” So he ended up being clothed.
The panel ended with each panelist giving a one word tease of what’s to come for their character this season. Carlos answered, “dreams,” Candice answered “pissed,” and Danielle answered “frosty.” Andrew also threw in an answer regarding the season finale: “tears.”
Despite the absence of the show’s star, Grant Gustin, this turned out to be a really good panel! It was a lot of fun, and very informative – much more revelatory than I ever expected. We’ve been consistently enjoying The Flash from the beginning of the season, and this panel got me even more excited about what’s in store for the remainder of the season, and for the future of the show!
Lunch and Cosplay Watching
After The Flash panel ended, we went over to the food trucks for lunch. For once, the lines were actually pretty short. After lunch, we tried out the dessert food trucks, which were yummy. Then we just watched cosplayers hang around the fountain out in front of the convention center. There was one really good group of The Walking Dead cosplayers. Since it was Easter Sunday, they put on some bunny ears. We also spotted Osric Chau, who played Kevin on Supernatural, hanging out with them. He wasn’t on any panels that I’m aware of, so he must have been there enjoying the con like the rest of us. Then we decided to call it a wrap for WonderCon Anaheim 2015 and headed home.
Click here for our WonderCon Anaheim 2015 wrap up article, where both Josh and I talk about our final thoughts about this year’s WonderCon, and about WonderCon moving to the Los Angeles Convention Center next year!
