SDCC 2018: THE FLASH Season 5 Trailer and Panel Recap

The main takeaway from San Diego Comic-Con International 2018 for THE FLASH television series was, of course the stunning Season 5 trailer that that dropped — including much awaited glimpses of Nora West-Allen in costume and Barry finally using the iconic Flash ring. But there were a few other goodies that the cast and crew shared on the stage and during the Q&A that followed.

For the first time in the show’s history, the Season 5 premiere will pick up moments from where the last finale ended. Unsurprisingly, most of the focus will be on what Nora’s arrival means for the West-Allen family and the timeline as a whole. Our newest time-travelling speedster is described as motor mouth “daddy’s girl” who eagerly clings to her future father, but seems determined for mysterious reasons to keep her mother Iris at arm’s length. Her superhero moniker “XS” is an obvious nod to Jenni Ognats from DC Comics, Barry and Iris’s granddaughter who carries on the family superhero business. 

Comic book fans will also recognize the name Cicada — this season’s (non-speedster!) big bad who will be played by Chris Klein of American Pie fame. While showrunner Todd Helbing said that this particular incarnation of Cicada will be moving away from the obsessed cult leader presented in the source material, he will still present a different kind of threat than anyone our metahumans have gone up against. 

Along with newcomer Jessica Parker Kennedy, Danielle Nicolet and Hartley Sawyer have also been upgraded to series regulars. Meanwhile Danielle Panabaker will be going behind the camera to make her directorial debut later on this season with Episode 18. The back half of the season also promises a King Shark and Gorilla Grodd team-up, which is apparently a storyline the writers have had on the backbunner for quite a while but had to keep pushing off due to budget constraints. 

On that villainous note, during the panel Panabaker also echoed many fans’ frustrations with how Killer Frost was handled last season and hinted the theme of family may not limited just to the West-Allens this year, as we will be learning more about Caitlin’s backstory as she searches for answers that she ropes Ralph and Cisco into. 

And although neither Tom Cavanaugh nor Todd Helbing ruled out any of the previous Wells making a return, it was confirmed that we will start the season out with a brand new Harrison Wells whose personality is something of a mixture of those incarnations we’ve seen before, further shaking up the expanding team. 

As for the much-anticipated 100th episode of the series, the cast and crew were tight-lipped about expectations, but did share that Tom Cavanaugh will once again be stepping into the director’s chair and slight schedule tweak will means the 100th will also being doubling as the show’s winter finale, just in case you weren’t excited enough.

Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer