LA Comic Con: Discussion with Cast of The Flash TV Show

LA Comic Con featured a number of notable guests, including Mike Colter and many others. Five cast members of The Flash TV show (on The CW) appeared at Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con in a discussion with Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen from the AMC TV show Comic Book Men. The two comic book men talked with Candice Patton (Iris West), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow), Teddy Sears (Jay Garrick/Zoom), Shantel VanSanten (Patty Spivot) and Liam McIntyre (Weather Wizard).     For the most part, the panel answered questions from the audience, with McIntyre playing intrepid reporter, making his way through the standing crowd with a microphone to get their question. To start, though, Ming asked the cast about someone both groups had worked with: Kevin Smith. Smith directed one episode last season and an upcoming episode in season three. Sears said Smith is “A guy who really loves the show… This was a guy who really wanted to do well. He was like a kid in a candy store. It made him instantly endearing.” Panabaker added, “Kevin came back for episode 7 this year, which I think is my favorite episode of the season. I’m excited for you guys to see it.”   Audience members asked about the crossovers between The Flash TV show and the other DC superhero shows on The CW – Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. Patton said that Iris will not be in the crossovers on the other shows but will be featured on The Flash crossover episode. The cast was also asked on which other show they would like to appear. Patton added that she thought Supergirl would be a good fit for her since Iris is a reporter. Panabaker offered an unexpected CW show on which she’d like to appear: iZombie.     Sears talked about the switch from being on the same team as the Star Labs crew when he was “Jay Garrick” to when he was playing Zoom. He said that it was tough. It was hard on him because he really liked the actors and it was challenging to be on the other side. “In that scene, I smirk a lot. It was me trying to deal with my nerves of how uncomfortable I was. And Tom Cavanagh made up that great line, something like ‘I’m going to punch that smirk off your face.’ I was having such a difficult time.” He added that he misses his cast-mates and he will take any role that gets him back to Vancouver (where the show shoots).   Several audience members asked about upcoming plot threads on The Flash TV show. One asked Panabaker whether Caitlin would turn into Killer Frost. She said that Caitlin is starting to go through some changes and they’re really challenging for her. Hopefully, it will be a really good story line this year as we see her go through those changes. Another fan asked if we will see Kid Flash again. Patton didn’t confirm but seemed to indicate yes when she said, “It would be a waste of a suit, right? It would be a waste of a suit to see it once. So I am hoping that we will definitely see Kid Flash again.”     A fan asked about Tom Cavanagh’s work on the show. Patton said that this “H.R.” iteration is by far her favorite version of Wells. She also said that Cavanagh improvises so much that it forces her to be sharp and stay on her toes because she cannot predict what he will do. She really values that since they are now three seasons in with these characters.   The discussion turned to VanSantel and Sears, both of whom are not currently on the show. On Patty, VanSantel said, “They put Patty on a train and didn’t kill her for a reason. Because she’s a train ride away.” She would love to be back. She loved playing Patty, as a real human in this supernatural world. Sears admitted that after Flashpoint, he was hoping that Hunter Zolomon was going to be “your friendly neighborhood barista at C.C. Jitters or pushing a mop at Star Labs or something. I wanted some involvement. But there are lots of Earths, lots of iterations, lots of seasons, so fingers crossed.” He added about Black Flash, “I imagine we will get to it at some point. It just has to be the right story because of who Black Flash is in the mythology.”     Of course, DC Entertainment is releasing a version of The Flash on film, with Ezra Miller playing the hero. The cast was asked about their feelings on this. While being diplomatic, Panabaker said, “I’m very proud of the work we do on The Flash. Grant [Gustin] will always be my Barry Allen.”   The Flash TV show, now in season three, airs Tuesdays at 8:00pm on the CW.