The big revelation out of last month’s Comic-Con International in San Diego was that the Flash and his team were set to face off against DC villain Cicada in Season 5 of the CW series. After defeating the uber-intelligent Thinker, the Scarlet Speedster is set to have his hands more than full, because Cicada isn’t the only new villain coming to town.
Deadline reports that actress Kiana Madeira (Sacred Lies) has been cast in the role of Spencer Young, The CW series’ take on DC supervillain Spin. Madeira will recur throughout the year after being introduced in the fourth episode of Season 5.
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According to the casting breakdown, Spencer “is a young aspiring social media influencer who seizes the opportunity to make herself famous when she discovers there is a new hero in Central City.”
In the comic books, Spin is a dangerous villain by the name of Auerbach who made his first appearance in 2008’s The Flash #238 by Tom Peyer and Freddie E. Williams II. The character is the son of a media mogul and works as a reporter. Eventually, Auerbach comes across a metahuman who has the ability to make people’s fears become real. Wearing a costume and a mask that works as a television screen, Spin amplifies the metahuman’s powers to harness them for his own gain.
It certainly sounds like Spencer Young’s role as an “aspiring social media influencer” would greatly benefit from being able to manipulate the fears of the masses. That way, she can literally spin any story, any way she wants. In the source material, Auerbach was at one time able to turn the people of Central City against the Flash, something that we could easily see happen on the television show.
This isn’t the first time that the Arrowverse has featured female versions of male supervillains. In fact, Arrow already featured an appearance by a female Bug-Eyed Bandit (Emily Kinney), while The Flash introduced viewers to a female take on The Top (Ashley Rickards) as the partner of Mirror Master in Season 3.
On top of Cicada and Spin, Barry Allen will face a different kind of challenge in Season 5 when he and his wife, Iris West-Allen, have to deal with the presence of their adult daughter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who has time-traveled from the future.
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The Flash returns Tuesday, October 9th on The CW, and stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Nicolet, Tom Cavanagh and Jesse L. Martin.