‘The Flash’ Casts Chris Klein as Season 5 Big Bad Cicada

It sounds like The Flash will be facing an entirely new threat in its upcoming fifth season.

During the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, it was revealed that Chris Klein (American Pie, Election, Oz) has been cast as DC Comics supervillain David Hersch/Cicada. Described as “a grizzled, blue-collar everyman whose family has been torn apart by metahhumans, Cicada now seeks to exterminate the epidemic — one metahuman at a time”.

This description varies a little bit from Cicada’s comic book origins, but hints that he will be an equally terrifying foe. Hersch, who was first introduced into the pages of The Flash in 2001, was a Catholic preacher who became consumed by guilt after abusing and murdering his wife. On the brink of committing suicide, Hersch was struck by a bolt of lightning, and was essentially given the power of immortality — as long as he absorbed the life-forces of others.

This led Hersch to become consumed with his powers, ultimately forming a cult and taking on the moniker of Cicada. The cult of Cicada became committed to one goal, which was to use lightning bolt daggers to murder those who were saved by The Flash. The Wally West incarnation of The Flash tussled with Cicada for several issues, as Hersch resurrected his wife before ultimately being captured by the police.

Soon after, Cicada was put onto death row at Iron Heights, where his immortality proved to be a bit of a problem. He then escaped from jail as part of the Flash: Iron Heights miniseries, briefly joined the Secret Society of Super-Villains as part of Infinite Crisis, and was ultimately banished to the villain planet Salvation.

For months, fans have theorized about the possibility of Cicada joining The Flash, after it was confirmed that the Season 5 Big Bad would once again not be a speedster. A tease about Cicada was supposed to factor into The Flash‘s Season 4 finale, but was ultimately cut for time.

“It is nice to have a villain that we can change up what Barry’s obstacle and the team’s obstacles are, and how to take somebody down.” executive producer Todd Helbing told ComicBook.com after the Season 4 finale. “The Thinker, DeVoe, [was] a lot of fun and we certain see the benefits of doing that. Having a meta that isn’t a speedster and the new ways that we can pose challenges for those guys is fun. So I think for next season, it’s certainly not going to be a speedster.”

Are you excited to see Cicada officially come to The Flash? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The fifth season of The Flash will debut on Tuesday, October 9th, at 8/7c on The CW.