Over the past six years, The CW's Arrow-verse shows have gone through many casting shakeups, with heroes and villains coming and going on a fairly regular basis. Wally West portrayer Keiynan Lonsdale revealed earlier this year that he would be taking a step back from the franchise for the foreseeable future, and he was expected to only appear in The Flash's Season 5 premiere. But now that a third of the season is done filming, showrunner Todd Helbing has revealed we'll get to see Kid Flash several more times as the season goes on.
You will see Wally in the first episode. He is in three episodes this season. We don't have as much time with Kid Flash as I think everyone would like to see, but the story we have for him is really cool.
That is definitely good news for all the fans who were already mourning Keiynan Lonsdale's absence, such as Candice Patton herself, and it sounds like Kid Flash's time in Season 5 will be quite a bit more than just a quick scene where he hugs and says bye to everyone else. (Plus, he kinda already did that when he took refuge in Blue Valley after his break-up with Jesse.) It's awesome that they worked the details out to keep him on board for three full episodes, and Lonsdale was hopefully all in on his exit's mild expansion.
Unfortunately, showrunner Todd Helbing didn't offer any concrete details when speaking with Newsarama about Wally West's presence in The Flash Season 5. Will he be part of introducing the newest big bad, Chris Klein's Cicada? Will he get to offer some sage Uncle Wally advice to Jessica Parker Kennedy's Nora West-Allen now that she's around full-time? Could he have something to do with bringing Sherloque Wells to Earth-1? And, perhaps most relevant to Lonsdale's time in the Arrow-verse last season, will we get to see him reconnect with the Legends before he heads out?
After first getting introduced back in Season 2, Wally West has been a major factor in keeping Central City safe, and in keeping the show complicated. Following his metahuman transition as a result of Barry's attempt to recreate the particle accelerator explosion. His other-timeline death is what caused Barry to double back on his time-traveling for the world-changing Flashpoint arc. Then, when Barry had to his six-month stint inside the Speed Force, Kid Flash was Central City's signature speedster. Will he similarly get to take the reins in such a big way before bowing out? We shall know before too much longer.
Kid Flash fans can start saying their goodbyes when The Flash Season 5 will kick off on The CW on Tuesday, October 9, at 8:00 p.m. ET. While waiting to see what happens with Caitlin and Killer Frost and all the rest, head to our fall premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are on the way.
