Eric Wallace, showrunner for The Flash, revealed his initial disappointment in Grant Gustin’s decision to end the series before Season 10.
After nine seasons on The CW, The Flash will reach the end of its run (no pun intended.)
The choice of whether or not to continue on for more episodes or stop before a potential Season 10 came down to series lead Grant Gustin, whose contract was up. Ultimately, Gustin elected not to renew his contract, and after 184 episodes, The Flash, the longest-running Arrowverse show, would come to a close.
The Flash Season 10 That Never Was
Showrunner Eric Wallace, who oversaw The Flash for its final three seasons, noted to Entertainment Weekly that his original plan was for the series to conclude on Episode 200 in a tenth season.
Wallace's original response to the news that the series would end before a planned Season 10 was one of “disappointment:”
“My initial reaction to finding out that it would be not only the last season but a shortened last season was bittersweet and a lot of disappointment. But we are the lucky ones — we got a year of knowing this is the end, so let’s make this the greatest end we possibly can.”
Wallace went on to add that he hopes The Flash’s finale will offer fans “closure,” while also noting that the episode “wrapped a lot of things up:”
“I've wrapped up a lot of things in the series finale, and it ends on a very hopeful note that shows you how the future of the Arrowverse could continue in some way, shape, or form. It hopefully gives people closure, but also some hope for the future, because otherwise, it's very sad to think that there won't be an Arrowverse after May 24."
Indeed, there will be no Arrowverse shows remaining after The Flash takes its final bow next week. The CW is under new ownership and looks to be jettisoning its superhero programming, including the long-in-development Justice U.
Is It Time for the Arrowverse To Finish?
As unfortunate as it may be for The Flash to be nearing the finish line, it’s hard to deny that the Arrowverse is not what it once was.
For starters, the pandemic wreaked havoc with these shows’ ability to stage their trademark annual crossovers. There was an attempt for some inter-universe connectivity with the Armageddon event in 2021, but it just wasn’t on the same level of the much more elaborate Crisis on Earth X or Elseworlds
An unfortunate side-effect of this nullification of crossovers was the fact that the Arrowverse was never even able to do anything with the Justice League team that was set up in the closing minutes of 2020’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, leaving fans of the superhero team high and dry.
On top of all this is the idea that the writing and production values on The Flash just weren’t as sharp as they were early on, which caused the series to hemorrhage viewers.
Factoring everything together and perhaps it’s time for the Arrowverse to end, or at least take a break for a bit. Stephen Amell, who recently reprised his Arrow role of Oliver Queen on Flash Season 9 has stated his interest in returning to the character again for a movie or limited series.
The series finale of The Flash will air on The CW on Wednesday, May 24.
