Despite having lost Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West, the producers behind The Flash sure aren’t wasting any time rounding out the principal cast for season 5. Already, we’ve learned that Danielle Nicolet will be joining stalwarts such as Grant Gustin, Candice Patton and Jesse L. Martin on a more permanent basis, but it appears as though we have one more to add to the mix now that Neil Sandilands’ time spent as Clifford DeVoe has concluded.
Strangely enough, name-dropping the Thinker provides the perfect segue into today’s news because the latest to be promoted to series regular is that of Hartley Sawyer. As you may recall, his character of Ralph Dibny AKA Elongated Man was thought to have been consumed by DeVoe in the back half of season 4, and no matter how greatly the Powers That Be wanted us to think he was gone for good, he ultimately regained control of his mind and body.
So, now that Dibny’s back in business, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that we’ll be seeing a lot more of him once the series resumes this fall. Personally, I didn’t take to the character much at first, but he showed such growth throughout the season, thus becoming a true hero who’s capable of delivering the right words of wisdom at the right time.
Still, I’m not too keen on his stretchy powers because I believe those just don’t translate well to live action. They may work in comic books and animation, sure, but not everything from those forms of media adapt well to film. In other words, Ralph’s abilities can make the most serious of scenes turn campy, so let’s hope the producers find the right balance before long.
The Flash returns for its fifth season on Tuesday nights this fall on The CW.