‘The Flash’: “Blocked” Photos Reveal First Full Look at Cicada

The CW has released new photos for “Blocked”, the second episode of The Flash‘s fifth season.

The photos, which you can check out below, highlight Team Flash’s battle against David Hersch/Cicada (Chris Klein), the metahuman-hating Big Bad that fans can expect in Season 5.

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“His endgame isn’t about The Flash.” executive producer Todd Helbing explained in a previous interview. “It’s more of a bigger-scale issue… A big part of the story of this season [is about] the metas, where they got their powers from, and it’s tied into everybody’s journey this year. Cicada’s powers are different than DeVoe’s [and] any of the speedsters in the way they affect our team.”

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. His cult used lightning bolt daggers to murder those who were saved by The Flash.

While it sounds like The Flash’s Cicada might be a little different from his comic counterpart, it sounds like he will pose a unique challenge to Team Flash either way.

“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.” Helbing echoed to 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.”

The photos also provide some hints as to what to expect in the episode, ranging from Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco Ramon/Vibe (Carlos Valdes) having some sort of fancy meal at Jitters together, to Nora West-Allen/XS (Jessica Parker Kennedy) joining forces with the team.

“We always like to introduce characters and sort of highlight areas that come from the comics, but we don’t want to be beholden exactly to them, so we can change the stories as we see fit and tell it for a television show,” Helbing told ComicBook.com. “With [Nora], it’s the time that she comes from and what she did. She makes this sort of big mistake at the end of the episode — you see the concern of what she’s done, and Barry certainly learned his lessons from time travel, so now it’s going to be interesting to put him on the different side of the problem and see how he can help her fix it.”

What do you think of these new photos of The Flash’s fifth season? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Flash will premiere on Tuesday, October 9th, at 8/7c on The CW. “Blocked” will air on October 16th.