Danielle Panabaker is finally getting to fulfill her dream of playing the DC Comics villain Killer Frost.
Ever since The Flash introduced Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, she’s been waiting ever so patiently to play her darker alter ego from the comic books. And while we’ve already seen a flash of Killer Frost when Barry was traveling through time inside the speed force, we’re going to get a lot more of her when Barry and Cisco travel with Harrison Wells to Earth-2 in this week’s easter egg-filled episode.
“Killer Frost been brought up so much over the past year and a half because Caitlin becomes her in the comic books,” Panabaker tells Nerdist. “That’s out there, and people have been talking about it and wanting it so it’s awesome to finally see it come to fruition.”
While Panabaker couldn’t wait to wear the costume, wig, and colored contacts to play the icy villain, what excited her most about being Killer Frost was the simple opportunity to do something “totally different” on The Flash.
“We just shot our 40th episode of the show, which is crazy, considering it’s only our second season,” Panabaker says. “So the fact that we could take this giant departure from the characters we play on a day-to-day basis in the middle of it all was just so fun. We looked to the comic books for inspiration, especially when it came to building the look of Killer Frost. But while our show tries to be faithful to the comic books, we also try and do our own spin on it, and that’s what we did with Killer Frost. I talked to Andrew Kreisberg and our writers a fair amount about what they were looking for and that was very helpful. Everything about her is different from Caitlin Snow and I loved exploring that.”
While fans have been eagerly awaiting seeing Killer Frost come to life on The Flash ever since the series premiered last year, Panabaker only recently found out that she would be seen first on Earth-2. But Panabaker laughingly assures us that she is “not worried” about Killer Frost never getting a chance to pay Earth-1 a visit.
On that same note, Killer Frost isn’t the only evil alter ego Barry and Cisco will come across on Earth-2. Caitlin’s late husband Ronnie Raymond is known as Deathstorm in the alternate universe. “It was such a treat to have Robbie [Amell] back on the show,” Panabaker says. “We got to have fun with [Caitlin and Ronnie’s dynamic] and push it further than we ever have before. I think they’re the Bonnie and Clyde of Earth-2. We’re playing two villains. It was the most fun. But even though Killer Frost is a villain, she still fears Zoom, and she’s right to fear him. You’ll see why in the episode.”
Beyond the episode, in fact. The Flash‘s Earth-2 storyline will carry on into next week’s show.
“Oh gosh, we fit a lot with Killer Frost in these two episodes,” Panabaker says. “We really get to know her and her relationship with Deathstorm. We’ll learn a little bit about her powers. In the second part, we see even more of her powers and all the different relationships she has with other characters, as well as her motivations and alliances. We focus on the present and how she interacts with Barry and some other familiar faces.”
While Barry and Cisco go up against Killer Frost on Earth-2, her Earth-1 counterpart Caitlin is going to have her hands full with working on the Velocity speedster drug with Jay Garrick.
“Comic book fans recognize the importance of Velocity 9,” Panabaker says of Caitlin’s new formula for Velocity 7. “I think it’s so cool that Caitlin is a part of that storyline and that’s her passion and focus as of late. She’s developing this new formula and potion for Jay, and that’s going to come into play with saving Central City while the rest of the team is away on Earth-2.”
Killer Frost isn’t the only exciting part of the hour. Fans will also get a kick out of seeing Iris West’s badass new job, Joe’s shocking profession (and his feelings about Earth-2’s Bartholomew Allen), crossovers with both Supergirl and Arrow and so many more surprises that I can’t spoil. This is one episode you’re going to want to watch live, trust me.
What or who are you most excited to see on Earth-2? Tweet me your thoughts @SydneyBucksbaum!
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Images: The CW
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
