The big pile of The Flash season 5 villains just got a little bit bigger, with the news that Kiana Madeira has been cast as a gender-swapped take on the comic book villain Spin.
Traditionally a man in the comics, Spin’s real name was Mr Auerbach. He was introduced in the comics in 2008, and he was an aspiring journalist attempting to live up to the legacy of his media mogul father.
Mr Auerbach, in the comics, kept a Metahuman named Edwar Martinez in his basement. Martinez had the power to sense people’s fears and make them a reality, which Auerbach used as a supervillain to turn public opinion against The Flash, freak out The Flash himself, and cause big distractions while he committed crimes.
In The Flash TV show, Madeira’s female take on the character will be an aspiring social media influencer named Spencer Young. According to Deadline’s news-breaking report, Young debuts in episode four of the season and “seizes the opportunity to make herself famous when she discovers there is a new hero in Central City.”
This new hero, presumably, is Jessica Parker-Kennedy’s Nora, who showed up in Central City at the end of last season. Nora is the speedster daughter of Grant Gustin’s Barry and Candice Patton’s Iris, and it sounds like Spin fancies arranging a big public fight with Nora to make herself a big name.
Kiana Madeira has previously been seen in Sacred Lies, Taken and Wynonna Earp. She is set to recur throughout the season in the role of Spin.
The Flash will return to American screens on October 9th. The UK broadcast on Sky is generally a week later.