‘The Flash’ Reunion at MCCC 2023: Tom Cavanagh, Carlos Valdes, & Danielle Panabaker
At last weekendâs Motor City Comic Con, stars of The Flash reunited for a fun panel about their time on the show. Tom Cavanagh, Carlos Valdes, and Danielle Panabaker were all in attendance to talk about their on-set adventures.
CW’s The Flash on-set secrets
While the cast didnât let slip many secrets from the television production, fans did learn a few interesting things. Firstly, it was so much fun to be in the room with all three actors. Theyâre clearly good friends to this day and love spending time together!
Tom Cavanagh was hilarious in particular, much more so than one would expect given he plays Barry Allenâs archnemesis in several universes. His real-life rapport with Carlos Valdes is shockingly similar to the father-son relationship their characters shared in The Flash. It turns out both of them are amazing singers, and sang the MCCC audience two acapella songs that blew us away. On set, the two entertained their co-stars with similar antics.
In fact, the relationship between Cisco and Harrison Wells in season 1 was largely due to the two co-starsâ friendship. When asked about their favorite Wells line, Danielle Panabaker kicked things off by saying how much she loves the relationship Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes âforced inâ between Wells and Cisco. Given how strong their connection was in season 1, finding out it wasnât planned from the beginning was a big surprise!
Another surprise was finding out that the use of Lady Gagaâs âPoker Faceâ in The Flash series premiere wasnât a suggestion by any of the cast. Valdes said âWe didnât choose that, it was chosen for usâ while Panabaker explained âThey put it in the script and they could afford itâ, which seems to have been a surprise to all involved (even the audience). âThey must have had a fat budget!â, as Carlos Valdes so succinctly put it.
Both Valdes and Panabaker agreed that their favorite episodes to work on were the very first time The Flash stepped into the multiverse, episodes 13 and 14 of season 2. Cavanagh liked season 4, episode 15, where a nuclear bomb is exploding and Barry has seconds to figure out how to save Central City. Danielle Panabaker chimed in here with some interesting information.
Apparently, season 4 was âtumultuousâ after someone working on the show quit, seemingly suddenly. Episode 15 was one of the first to be made following this departure. Panabaker described it as a âbottle episodeâ because it was shot in 7 days in mostly one location with minimal VFX work. It turns out sheâs also the one everyone on set would go to for information about the show because she knew everything on set, down to the shooting schedules others couldnât remember.
Scrapped ideas from The Flash
We also learned about some more production secrets thanks to this panel. Danielle Panabaker was asked about a buddy comedy spinoff show with Killer Frost and Vibe, to which she responded with an enthusiastic âYEAH!â before Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes started to sing again. Valdes dropped some information about Cisco that fans may be particularly interested in or even upset with.
Cisco famously took the metahuman cure and sacrificed his powers in season 5 of The Flash, only to pick up gauntlets that restored his exact powers when needed (such as for the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover). Valdes had something to say about that storyline, saying âat the risk of alienating my audience and angering fans even more, I would flip flop again and have Cisco get his real powers againâ.
That statement is particularly interesting since many fans assumed he wanted to leave the series or downgrade to a recurring role, so he asked for his powers to be taken away as the in-universe explanation for why Cisco wouldnât be around as much anymore. But according to Carlos Valdes, âI think he needs to be the superhero he was meant to be. Let him be Vibe. Vibe be vibing. This is where I get sued by Warner Bros., but I donât know why we took his powers away.â Danielle Panabaker asked what we were all thinking: âI thought you wanted that; it was a good storyline!â But Valdes said no, and responded âmehâ to Panabaker saying Cisco losing his powers was a good storyline.
A similar fan sentiment involved Killer Frost never really killing anyone after season 3, which Danielle Panabaker also didnât love. When the actors were asked what their favorite thing planned for their characters that never made it to the screen was, Panabaker responded that she wanted Killer Frost to be more of a villain in season 4. After teasing it in season 3, âshe didnât actually kill anyoneâ. Cavanagh chimed in here as well, saying whatâs on all our minds: âYouâre Killer Frost and you donât kill?â
Carlos Valdes wanted Vibe to break dance while Cavanagh said âLetâs all kill people and break danceâ. In truth, he said there were lots of versions of Harrison Wells that went unused. In his words, there were many in his âback pocketâ that fans never got to see, like one that talked very fast. âMaybe good that you never got to see [some]â, Cavanagh remarked.
Tom Cavanagh, Danielle Panabaker, and Carlos Valdes on their favorite moments in the series
Wrapping up with some lighter moments, the stars had a lot to say about their favorite times on set. Tom Cavanaghâs favorite on-set moment was when Danielle Panabaker called âaction!â for the first time as a director, while his favorite Harrison Wells to play was Eobard Thawne – he couldnât pick a favorite!
When asked what her favorite part about playing Caitlin and Killer Frost was, Panabaker said âI just want to be Tom Cavanagh when I grow upâ. That sparked a discussion about the number of Wells he played on the show, which he thinks was around 40 and definitely above 20. Danielle Panabaker said âWells. Donât ask me which oneâ when asked what her favorite character on the show was. Cavanagh said his fellow actors would constantly tell him that âhe sucksâ on set because Wells was constantly reinvented.
Carlos Valdes told a hilarious story about Grant Gustin mistaking him for Candice Patton from the back while approaching set one day because of his long hair. He also said he didnât know that Cisco was Vibe until he was handed a Vibe comic book during his final audition and opened to the first page. Meanwhile, Cavanagh wasnât interested in taking the role of Harrison Wells and kept saying ânoâ until the creators told him he was playing the main villain, Reverse-Flash (who he was already familiar with).
As for other favorites, all three stars liked season 1 of The Flash the best. That seems due to the uncertainty surrounding it, because they all agreed that no one knew where the show was going, or if people were going to watch or like it. Cavanagh said season 1 âmoved along with real intent and paceâ, with Wells killing Cisco and Iris discovering Barryâs superhero identity all in the same episode. He said âto be a part of that is a thrillâ.
As for their favorite crossovers, Panabaker âliked our first crossoverâ and Valdesâs favorite was the crossover he wasnât even in. Everyoneâs favorite character death was the very first time Wells killed Cisco, while Valdes remarked that he âlove[d] dying, every timeâ. A question about everyoneâs favorite color of speedster lightning revealed that Cavanagh likes yellow even though his characterâs was red, Panabaker likes yellow and red, and Valdes likes blue (my favorite is purple, which sadly went unmentioned).
Fans were eager to hear the cast membersâ favorite part about the musical episode in season 3, which for Panabaker was âNot having to singâ! Cavanagh found it âslightly gallingâ that the two who sang nonstop were not asked to sing together, and Valdes said âit really was so confusing, even how it was thrown togetherâ due to last-minute dance rehearsal scheduling.
Finally, the three were asked about their favorite part of the characters they played. Danielle Panabaker said âI liked how smart Caitlin wasâ, while Carlos Valdes said âI liked how sexy Cisco wasâ. Tom Cavanagh one-upped both of them though, telling the audience âI liked how smart and sexy my two co-stars wereâ!
Be sure to check out Motor City Comic Con next time
The Flash panel at Motor City Comic Con was a ton of fun, and it was great to see three original members of Team Flash reunited in person. Hopefully, next time theyâll be joined by Grant Gustin and Candice Patton! For more on MCCC see below for who else was at the con, or visit their official website.
Motor City Comic Con November 2023 Preview
The Flash Series Finale Review
DC Showcase: Flashpoint Comic Review
