The Flash‘s race is just about hitting the finish line.
The CW has announced that the superhero series starring Grant Gustin will be ending after its ninth season airs sometime early next year.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Flash executive producer/showrunner Eric Wallace said –
Nine seasons! Nine years of saving Central City while taking audiences on an emotional journey full of heart, humor and spectacle. And now Barry Allen has reached the starting gate for his last race. So many amazing people have given their talents, time and love to bring this wonderful show to life each week. So, as we get ready to honor the show’s incredible legacy with our exciting final chapter, I want to say thank you to our phenomenal cast, writers, producers and crew over the years who helped make The Flash such an unforgettable experience for audiences around the world.
With the ending of The Flash comes the ending to network’s long running series of interconnected superhero shows known as the Arrowverse. The franchise kicked off for the network in 2012 with Arrow, an adaptation of the DC Comics hero Green Arrow which starred Stephen Amell. Gustin made a guest appearance on a second season episode of the show to set up The Flash spinoff that would come the following year. The two series proved popular enough that the network also order up the shows Black Lightning, Batwoman and Legends Of Tomorrow, all featuring DC Comics characters, and picked up Supergirl after CBS dropped the series after its first year. As all the shows were being produced under Greg Berlanti’s production shingle, they were integrated into a self-contained world, which led to big, annual multi-show crossover events.
But the end of The Flash doesn’t mean that the CW is getting out of the superhero biz for good. It still has Superman & Lois going into its third season as well as the Batman-related newcomer Gotham Knights on its schedule.
