The CW Picks Up the “Arrow” Spin-Off “The Flash,” Starring Valdes

Carlos Valdes is preparing to flash television audiences…

The CW has ordered to series the Arrow spin-off The Flash, starring the Latino actor and Broadway star.

Carlos Valdes

The series centers on Barry Allen (Glee’s Grant Gustin), a Central City assistant police forensics investigator who arrives in Starling to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a connection to a tragedy in his past. A comic book fanboy, Barry is obsessed with the Arrow unaware that working with Oliver and Felicity to solve the crime has brought him right into the dangerous world of the vigilante.

Valdes portrays Cisco Ramon, a mechanical engineering genius at S.T.A.R. Labs. He came from a rather poor family, and provides much-needed comic relief around his stiff workplace.

Valdes previously appeared as his character in the Arrow episode entitled “The Man Under the Hood.”

In addition to Gustin and Valdes, the series also stars Jesse L. Martin, Tom Cavanagh, John Wesley Shipp, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton, Michelle Harrison and Patrick Sabongui.

The Flash comes from co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg who, along with Geoff Johns, wrote the pilot episode with Arrow pilot director David Nutter at the helm.

The Flash is set to premiere this fall.

Morales Cast in CBS’ “The Advocates” Pilot

Esai Morales has landed his next project

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast in CBS’ legal drama pilot The Advocates.

Esai Morales

The David Nutter-directed project, which was written by Bruno Heller, revolves around lawyer Shannon Carter and ex-con Henry Bird who join forces as “victim advocates,” going to the very edge of the law to right wrongs and fight for the underdog.

Morales, best known for portraying Ritchie Valens’ troubled brother in the 1987 biopic La Bamba, will play Rafael “Raffa” Cortez, an ambitious and somewhat Machiavellian district attorney.

Morales, who has a recurring role on the upcoming second season of Starz’s Magic City, has previously starred in Showtime’s Resurrection Blvd., NYPD Blue and the sci-fi series Caprica.