(CBR) Following the recent announcement that “The Game’s” Candice Patton has been cast as Iris West in “The Flash” television series, Variety reports that Broadway performer Carlos Valdes has been tapped to play Cisco Ramon — better known as Vibe — in the upcoming CW drama. Variety describes Cisco as a “mechanical engineering genius,” though no further details were given as to the capacity the character will factor in to the series.
That said, Vibe was given a push to prominence by DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns (who is also writing “The Flash” pilot with Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg) when he launched the “Justice League of America” comic last year, which featured Vibe as a founding member. He also launched a short-lived “Vibe” solo series with Kreisberg. Sterling Gates took over as writer starting with “Vibe” #3 and stayed on until its conclusion in December 2013.
Valdes’ only Broadway credit is in the adaptation of “Once” as the replacement for Andrej, though he also performed as Swing in the national tour for “Jersey Boys.” “The Flash” will be his first major television appearance. He joins the expanding cast of Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin and Candice Patton.
Although Cisco Ramon is Vibe’s civilian identity, the “Arrow”-verse is known for giving a different twist on recognizable DC concepts, so it’s certainly possible that there are other plans for the character that don’t involve him gaining powers — but given Johns’ push to bring Vibe into the New 52 and his involvement with “The Flash,” it’s a decent bet that his role will be significant.