Nicole Maines Talks Her Dreamy Visit to ‘The Flash’ & New ‘Yellowjackets’ Gig

Wake up, folks!

The parade of Arrowverse alums continues to march through The Flash‘s final season on Wednesday, March 29, with a visit from Nicole Maines, who revives her Supergirl role as Nia Nal, aka Dreamer for a very heady mission. Not only does the episode, “Wildest Dreams,” find a new way to explore alternate timelines without Barry (Grant Gustin) messing things up, but it also marks a long-awaited team-up for two of the Arrowverse’s fierce female journalists.

Here, the new Yellowjackets member, advocate, and comic-book writer fills us in on her trip to Central City and what it was like to slip back into her history-making role.

It was so exciting when this was announced back in December. How was it for you to step back into… well, I’m guessing you stepped back into the costume, right?

Nicole Maines: Yeah, it was. Oh man, it was wild just to be back and, I mean, I never really left the character because of course I’ve been writing her in the comics. But it felt really good to be back doing it, you know, with my body and not just writing words on a page. Actually getting able to be her again.

Even the fittings were so much fun too, just getting to be like, “Oh yeah, these are Nia clothes,” you know, going through the rack and seeing all the beautiful gauzy fabrics and floral prints. So I was like, “Yes, here she is.”

So you come to Central City because Nia actually has a dream about Iris (Candice Patton), right? What can you tell me about it? Clearly, it’s not a good dream.

Is it ever with Nia? Does she ever just have good dreams? [Laughs] I’m trying to think what I can and can’t say…Nia has been struggling to delve deeper into her visions, venturing farther into the dream realm than she has before. hoping to get to know her powers more. You know, it’s giving a little bit of Frozen 2, you know? “Don’t go too far, you’ll be drowned.” It’s very much that. And she has a vision involving Iris that does not bode well for Iris…I don’t know if she’s a danger, I don’t know if she’s going to be the one to help me, but I do know that I need to be in Central City.

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And how is her arrival handled?

It’s like two girlfriends meeting each other. You know, it’s, “Hey girl, I feel like I just saw you. What’s up? What’s happening? And what are you doing here…at my place of work in the middle of the night?” [Laughs] These are two characters we’ve never seen together but we sort of played it like these gals have met before and have spent time together. This is just the first time we’re getting to see them interact on screen.

@nicoleamaines Making our Mickey D’s receipt look like it’s from CVS. @Candice Patton #TheFlash #theflashcw ♬ original sound – Very Delta

So it’s two journalists really putting this all together, right?

Totally. We’ve each kind of existed in this same realm up until now and we’re actually getting to get these two women together. And I have so much fun with Candice, oh my god. She’s so hilarious and we had so much fun in between takes, making TikToks and goofing off together. But Iris and Nia together are sort of like you said, both journalists and both supporters of each other so they both kind of have the same way of thinking. And so as they’re thrust into this dream together, they’re each kind of coming at it from this investigative point of view, trying to unravel this mystery together. They’re like, ” We can do this, right? Of course, we can do this. We’re two smart, capable women. We got this.” And we don’t have this at all. [Laughs]

Do we get to see versions of people that we already know in the dream realm?

Oh yeah. It’s a new way of interpreting Dreamer’s powers because we’re dealing with fate and the future in a way that’s more like alternate timelines. Dreamer’s visions usually show her visions of the current future, right? But what this is, it’s an interesting way of her powers sort of showing alternate presents, if that makes sense? And it’s a new thing for Dreamer.

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Obviously, you can’t spoil how it ends, but does Nia get to leave town feeling like the problem has been solved?

Yeah. Yeah. She’s going to find what she was looking for. But it’s not what she’s expecting.

Oh, interesting. And does she make mention of anything that has been going on back at National City?

We have a couple references to the gang and there’s some off-handed mentions of Supergirl and Brainy…

Oh good, because they dropped your name during the Batwoman episode. How she, Kara, Alex, and Nia have a monthly brunch together.

Oh yeah. We mention the brunch in my episode too! [Laughs]

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Javicia Leslie on Reviving Batwoman for 'The Flash' & That 'Epic' Brunch Invite

Now… Yellowjackets this season? Where did that come from?

Wild. I mean, my favorite! I saw someone post on social media, “Nicole Maines being in Yellowjackets is so random.” And I loved that! That’s me, random old Nicole. That was so insane when I got that audition. I got so excited and was sure I bombed it, too. And then they cast me! I’m in the whole season. It worked out great, too, because it films in Vancouver so I had one episode off from Yellowjackets and that was the episode where I went and filmed The Flash.

And this second season is…

Oh my God, it’s so good. Yeah. It’s so f**king insane. It’s doubling down on everything we love from the first season. So it’s just crazier, more insane, people are doing more awful, terrible, horrible s**t. And, you know, what’s the phrase? “I support women’s rights, but more importantly, I support women’s wrongs.” [Laughs]

The Flash, Wednesdays, 8/7c, The CW