‘The Flash’ Season 5 Villain Will be More of a Blue Collar Metahuman

Dangerous power-sucking villain Cicada (Chris Klein) will serve as the new big bad of The Flash season five, but he’s “more of a blue collar metahuman” than flat out supervillain, according to executive producer Todd Helbing.

“He can dampen other metahuman powers, and we don’t know at first how he’s able to do that. He’s got an edge that no other big bad has ever had,” Barry Allen star Grant Gustin told EW of his new enemy.

“We don’t know who he is. He’s mysterious. He’s just kind of an intimidating, big scary man that can render pretty much all of these metahuman superheroes useless, more or less, in battle. He comes on really hard and fast the first time we meet him, so right away there’s an intimidation factor that’s through the roof, similar to Zoom.”

Unlike speedster Zoom (Teddy Sears), Cicada can’t keep up with the fastest man alive: he’s only the series’ second big bad without super-speed, and “the backstory that we created and sort of why he’s doing what he is doing this year is completely different too,” teased Helbing. “He’s more of a blue collar metahuman.”

In addition to dealing with this newest formidable foe, Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) will navigate parenthood as they encounter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) — their time-traveling daughter from the future.

“They’re learning all of the lessons new parents learn when their kids grow up, but since she’s an adult it sort of adds this heightened scenario to all those decisions,” Helbing said.

While there will be some “chilliness” between the mother-daughter pair, Barry and Nora will have a warm and playful dynamic.

“The dynamic between Barry and Nora has been a lot of fun to play with,” Gustin said. “Nora really looks up to Barry, and they have a connection right away, and she brings out that kind of fun, more bubbly side of Barry that we don’t get to see quite as much anymore.”

“We learn pretty early on, which shouldn’t come as a huge shock,” he teased, “that Nora being here actually has something to do with Cicada’s arrival.”

Without putting expectations “through the roof,” the longtime Flash star said the latest season “could be very similar to season one in [terms of] the heart and humor it had and the scope.”

The Flash season five races back to The CW October 9.