‘The Flash’: Danielle Panabaker Comments On Tom Felton’s Exit, Teases Season 4

“The Flash” star Danielle Panabaker addressed Tom Felton’s exit from the CW series a month after it was revealed that the British actor is not returning as a series regular for Season 4.

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Panabaker said that Felton’s absence in the upcoming season is “a loss for the show and for Team Flash.” However, the actress admitted that she doesn’t think her character, Caitlin, will feel Julian’s (Felton) absence “as deeply as she felt Ronnie’s (Robbie Amell) absence” before. As for why that’s the case, Panabaker said that she thinks Julian was more into Caitlin than she was into him.

Felton joined “The Flash” as a series regular in Season 3. The actor made his debut appearance as Julian in Season 3, episode 2, in which he was introduced as Barry’s (Grant Gustin) fellow CSI for the Central City Police Department.

Later in the season, it was revealed that Felton was actually an archaeologist who made an expedition in the Indus Valley to find the Philosopher’s Stone. After retrieving the stone, Julian woke up in his hotel room with all members of his expedition dead. He then ran off to Central City while unknowingly becoming Savitar’s (also played by Gustin) underling, Alchemy.

After being freed from Savitar’s control, Julian joined Team Flash and grew close to Caitlin. He was still a member of Team Flash at the end of Season 3, J, but with Season 4 picking up six months after the events in the Season 3 finale, it appears that Julian has left the team. Julian was missing from the Season 4 trailer released during the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con, an event that Felton didn’t attend.

It’s unclear how Julian’s absence will be addressed in Season 4, but the show will probably reveal that he has gone back to his wealthy family in England where he’s meant to inherent large sum of money built up from past generations.

Meanwhile, Panabaker said that fans can expect Season 4 to be less darker than the previous season. “We’re filming episode 5 right now and there’s already a lot more levity to the show,” Panabaker told Digital Spy. “It’s sort of getting back to our roots of Season 1, where it was a little bit lighter and there really was so much heart. So I’m excited to get to explore that a little bit more.”

“The Flash” Season 4 premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. EDT on The CW.