The Flash: Carlos Valdes Reportedly Leaving CW Series

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Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco on The Flash, is reportedly leaving The CW series after season 5. Valdes has been a series regular since the beginning of the DC TV show, and first played the character in a season 2 episode of Arrow, where he appeared alongside Danielle Panabaker's Caitlin Snow.

Cisco has had a constant presence on The Flash, guiding Barry on his missions with his technical expertise, coming up with innovative ideas to combat their metahuman foes, and giving them their comic book-inspired codenames. In season 2, Cisco's role on the show evolved when he discovered his own metahuman abilities and took on the name Vibe.

According to Discussing Film, Valdes will not return to The Flash in season 6. The new rumor cites Valdes' background in Broadway as a reason for his upcoming departure. If the rumor is to be believed, Valdes is planning on leaving The Flash to resume his Broadway career. The door will still be open for him to return in a lesser capacity, but he will no longer be a series regular. We Got This Covered has reported a similar rumor.

While none of this has been officially confirmed, the report from Discussing Film does bring up an interesting point that could provide evidence for Valdes' exit from the series. In recent episodes, Cisco's appearances seem to have been reduced, albeit for story-related reasons. Cisco has suddenly developed a different attitude toward metahuman powers, and has vowed to create a cure. He's been spending a great deal of time working on the cure while staying in Caitlin's father's lab in the Arctic.

It's not clear if Cisco's work on the cure would lead to the character quitting Team Flash and leaving Central City. His reasons for leaving may have more to do with his changing attitude toward metahumans. With Cisco now being devoted to the cure, Cisco's enthusiasm for helping Barry and his friends fight supervillains seems to have died down. Cisco may simply decide that he no longer wishes to be a member of Team Flash.

It's possible that the show is using Cisco's focus on the cure to slowly prepare viewers for Cisco to leave The Flash. This way, Cisco's absence won't be so strongly felt in season 6, and it will be easier for the show to move on without one of its most important characters.