Jessica Parker Kennedy will be a series regular in The Flash season 5. Fans spent the second half of the TV show's fourth season speculating about the identity of Kennedy's cheery, but mysterious character. Her "Mystery Girl" made her debut in last year's Crisis on Earth-X crossover event, before appearing in a handful of season 4 episodes. It was eventually revealed in the season 4 finale that, as many people had suspected, Kennedy is playing Barry and Iris West-Allen's grownup daughter from thirty years in the future.

Barry and Iris barely got a second to process this news when Kennedy's character, Nora, dropped a second bombshell on them. It turns out she has made what she fears might be a "big, big mistake", which is why she risked further disrupting the timeline by revealing her true identity to her future parents. It's looking like The Flash season 5 will focus in no small amount on the ramifications of that mistake (whatever it was), going by the latest casting update for the series.

TVLine is reporting that Kennedy has been upgraded to series regular status in The Flash season 5. She won't be the only new addition in season 4 who returns as a full-time player during the next slate of episodes, either. Hartley Sawyer will be reprising his role as Ralph Dibney aka. The Elongated Man in season 5, albeit this time as a series regular. Danielle Nicolet is also being upped to series regular status, having played district attorney Cecile Horton as far back as season 1.

The Flash season 4 finale set the stage for season 5 to focus on not only Barry's efforts to help his future daughter fix her "mistake", but also his fears and concerns about becoming a dad one day. What's less clear at the moment is how Nora's storyline will connect to the rumored big bad this season. Based on The Flash season 5 casting breakdowns, the next major villain could be David Hersch aka. Cicada, a semi-immortal metahuman who (in the DC comic books) attempts to kill every person Barry has ever saved.

All things considered, Barry having daddy issues in The Flash season 5 sounds like a logical narrative progression of the show thus far. Season 4 focused in no small amount on Barry and Iris' efforts to not only get married, but learn how to balance their home life with their superhero responsibilities after they tied the knot. Iris herself, Candice Patton said earlier this year that Barry and Iris having a kid felt like the next step to her, and the show's writers clearly agree. They might be in for a very different experience than other first-time parents, but typical life ventures have never really been how the West-Allens like to roll, anyway.

MORE: The Flash Season 5 Can Reboot the Entire Show

The Flash season 5 premieres sometime this fall on The CW.

Source: TVLine