THE FLASH Star Grant Gustin Addresses Arrowverse's Conclusion And Explains Decision To Leave DC Series

THE FLASH Star Grant Gustin Addresses Arrowverse's Conclusion And Explains Decision To Leave DC Series

The Flash star Grant Gustin addresses the conclusion of both that show and the Arrowverse, explaining his decision to leave The CW series in his dust. We also learn what the actor took from set as a memento!

News
By JoshWilding - May 19, 2023 08:05 AM EST
Filed Under: The Flash
Source: Entertainment Weekly

When The Flash's ninth season comes to a close later this month, we'll bid farewell to both the long-running series and the entire Arrowverse. 

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Barry Allen actor Grant Gustin talked about why now was the right time to hang up the Scarlet Speedster's iconic costume. "It just felt like time," he admits. "A lot of people wanted us to get to 10 seasons, but in my mind we did 10 years — it was 2013 when I was cast as Barry Allen, and we finished in 2023."

"We had done everything we needed to do, the characters were in a good place, and we had reached the conclusion." 

The actor admits that his departure from The Flash has been in the works for several years, confirming he originally intended to walk away after his six-year deal came to an end. Once he was convinced to return for season 7, he felt season 8 would be a good time to wrap up the show before being convinced to come back for a truncated ninth batch of episodes. 

"I just knew it was time for me to step away, have more time with my family, and just enter this next chapter of my life," Gustin says, admitting he thought the show might go on without him. "But I think I would've really questioned my decision if they had done a season 10 - if I knew the whole family was still together and I was somewhere else - so I'm glad we all finished at the same time."

The CW has yet to make a decision about renewing Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights, though neither of those is set in the Arrowverse. However, showrunner Eric Wallace hopes it might find a way to live on even after The Flash ends. 

"I still am hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over," he explains. "I've approached it as The Flash is over and I want to make the best Flash series finale as possible."

"I'm going to have lunch with [Superman & Lois showrunner] Todd [Helbing] in the next couple weeks," Wallace continues. "And I'm going to tell him, 'If you get a fourth season, you've got to sneak some Arrowverse in there. You are now carrying the torch.'"

The show has already featured a cameo from John Diggle, though he was quickly confirmed as that reality's Diggle, and not the one from Arrow. With that in mind, we're not banking on seeing The Flash team up with the Man of Steel! 

Oh, and what moment did Gustin take with him from The Flash? "I knew I was going to keep one thing, but I didn't know that it was going to be the ring," the actor confesses. "Right as we were finishing, I was like, 'This is going to stay in my pocket.' Now it's in a drawer at home with all of my important jewellery. I put it on, actually, the other day."

The Flash finale airs on The CW next Wednesday. 

THE FLASH Star Grant Gustin On Why He Was Unsure About Playing Barry Allen And His Talks With James Gunn
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Amaru
Amaru - 5/19/2023, 9:25 AM
Even if I hated some of the shows choices, especially with terrible side characters most of the time, he did great. Definitely better than that creep is ever going to do.
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 5/19/2023, 9:33 AM
@Amaru - I haven't really enjoyed the series since mid-way through the second season, but Grant was never the problem. Kinda wish one of the Flash film re-shoots was him replacing Ezra at the end.
Amaru
Amaru - 5/19/2023, 9:58 AM
@BackwardGalaxy - At various points I've enjoyed each season, but I don't think I've seen a really strong season since maybe 3? But it's hard to remember. I really hate shows that give us too much time with side characters, especially when they come across as too corny.
TheNewYorker
TheNewYorker - 5/19/2023, 9:26 AM
His decision was he had no choice.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 5/19/2023, 9:43 AM
@TheNewYorker - Right?!? 😂 this ain't an NFL option. You got 10 years to play Zack Morris with Speedy powers.

You won Grant. Go enjoy not having obligations, while the rest of us grab cheap meals and balance budgets.

I will take him over Miller any day of the week, should you desire to return.
MrDandy
MrDandy - 5/19/2023, 9:46 AM
End of an Era. The Arrowverse had a lot of ups and downs but I’ll remember the high points. It provided a lot of fun characters and seasons. It was ultimately killed by its inability to evolve and keep up with emerging new TV/streaming standards.. It is still impressive what they managed to accomplish with it and I personally am far more sad to see it go than I am for the end of the DCEU.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 5/20/2023, 3:06 AM
@MrDandy - I would argue that what actually "killed it" was typical poor corporate WB decisions such as not doing the smart thing and renewing their billion dollar Netflix deal that worked out for all parties involved. The pandemic hit it hard by putting a roadblock in the connective tissue, no crososvers but even then with just 4 shows around (Flash, LoT, Batwoman, S&L and Stargirl because I'm counting their multiversal peers) they would've kept being renewed as long as their Netflix bargain was on. WB didn't renew it in 2019 because they wanted their own, HBO Max. (And look now what it has become of it, all for naught)

There wouldn not have been any need to sell The CW to cheap execs (Nexstar) and not even Zaslav would have been able to axe them (or any other scripted show on The CW that wasn't a DC TV series) if the Netflix arrangement was there.

And yeah it's impressive what they accomplished. They did the impossible.
theredmeadow
theredmeadow - 5/19/2023, 9:49 AM
Anyone remember the sword fighting Flash did in one of the episodes? Terrible.
AC1
AC1 - 5/19/2023, 10:55 AM
Has the show gotten any better? It was a lot of fun for the first couple of seasons, and I still managed to stick with it roughly up until Crisis even though it had already started to dip in quality but after that it became too formulaic and there was too much focus on the crappy melodrama and I just lost interest.

Honestly if Grant wanted to walk away sooner it might've been a smarter idea to let him, and either try and bring back Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally and make him the new series lead (dunno if he ever came back after leaving) or even cast someone new as one of the other Flashes from the comics and then maybe just bring Grant back every now and then to play Barry as more of a mentor to this new Flash and maybe give him a hand when shit really hits the fan. A shake up like that might've breathed some new life into the series.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 5/20/2023, 3:01 AM
@AC1 - If I had to say what are my favourite Seasons in Post-Crisis they would be S6 and S8. The 2nd half of S6 for me is just damn excellent, the way it kept on building things in multiple directions until they had to meet at a crossroads from Barry and the team having to create a new Speed Force to stop Black Hole (really wished that this organization sticked around further) as Eva continued her 3rd dimentional chess from the Mirrorverse until she got out and the goal was to rescue Iris until that mirror world destroyed her set up good stakes. I just loved how it was structured, all made sense and it had the right amount of episodes for the arc instead of just 5 eps or 6 or 4 as in later arcs, although still well written. The fight between Barry and Mirror-Iris in 6x17 was one of the highlights.

And also S8 was very carefully planned to make coherence, the right seeds were planted across the episode. The 5-parter episodes of Armageddon was enjoyable and I loved the twist in how Flash to do actually be the one to end the world in the future in order to fix the timeline, just as Despero warned him. Those kind of twists are my jam. And the continuation afterwards with Nora and Bart traveling back in 8x06 to 2013 to meet Eddie now pays off in Season 9 which then gets another shoutout in the Eddie villain are when Deathstorm rises and brings back ghosts to haunt them (like Eddie) as it sets Iris vanishing and forcing Barry to connect to the other Forces due to it coming in handy in the finale to stop Thawne after being revived because the longer they fought the more they were creating another Armageddon.

I think the only bad melodrama was in 7A with the Forces, sucks they dropped the ball there when there were still ways to make that arc as exciting as the previous ones.

Keiynan Lonsdale did came back in 6x14 Post Crisis to let Barry know the Speed Force was on it's last legs because he took on the power of the Spectre and showed off new abilities becuase he was more atunned to the Speed Force like projecting his consciousness and appearing in it, which became relevant again when he returned one final time in 9x09 for Barry's birthday because Bloodwork crashed in and wanted him under his control so he could attack the Multiverse.

I wouldn't have minded that approach of making Wally step in as Flash, if they had gone along with Barry dying at some point of Crisis or post the event. Hard to find a moment where that would have fitted in.
knomad
knomad - 5/19/2023, 10:59 AM
Grant will always be Flash to me. Sorry they couldn't bring him to the big screen.
SpiderBrad
SpiderBrad - 5/19/2023, 11:08 AM
First few seasons were amazing. I dropped off but always appreciated Grant's performance. He was a fantastic Barry Allen/Flash.
TheVandalore
TheVandalore - 5/19/2023, 1:41 PM
One of the few shows my dad taped on VHS was the 90s version of THE FLASH and my big brother and I used to watch the tapes after homework while we played with out action figures in the living room. We would watch my dad's WWF RAW is WAR tapes, The Flash and my brother would try to watch X-Files just to scare me, he had me convinced they were government tapes not meant for kids lol

Man I miss those good old days.

I've got quite a lot of nostalgia for John Wesley Shipp as the Flash. So it's something of a remark when I say Grant is just as classic in the role.
MisterRiviera
MisterRiviera - 5/20/2023, 12:30 AM
Honestly, a part of me is glad that the Arrowverse as a whole is ending. Not because I want it to end but simply because it has one of the weakest and worst fanbases I've seen in a long time. Not only do people focus too much on the things they consider negatives about the franchise but people also don't have the patience anymore to watch anything beyond 2 or 3 seasons of pretty much any show. I grew up watching shows such as Buffy, Star Trek, Stargate, X-Files, Smallville. Shows that lasted a minimum of 7 seasons. None of these shows also had incredible visuals or the best-written scripts for episodes.

But these shows were highly entertaining if you kept your expectations to a minimum. The Arrowverse is no different but people expected too much. A lot of people have been spoiled by the level of quality streaming services provide to their shows and that wasn't the case with The Arrowverse. And as I said the franchise had a horrible ''fan''base. From the extremely toxic LGBTQ fans of Supergirl to the cry babies of Arrow and The Flash that cared for nothing except the main character. The writers could literally make the final episode of The Flash just about Barry running around Central City for 40 to 45 minutes long and people would call it the greatest Flash episode ever. Legends of Tomorrow probably had the best fanbase of the entire franchise.

If it were up to me I wouldn't mind seeing The Arrowverse continue somehow but what's the point when the majority of the ''fan''base wants to see the franchise dead and burried.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 5/20/2023, 3:12 AM
@MisterRiviera - I understand what you mean. Every fanbase has it's toxic corners and not even the Arrowverse was an exception and I get what you mean about those entitled "fans" or I should just say haters. I literally get all of what you mean.

No franchise is perfect nor has the perfect fandom, regardless of that there are still a lot of good ones around if you can find them and focus on them.

And I sure as hell also don't mind to see the Arrowverse continue if all the shows could find a home under the DC Elseworlds label because there's literally no better place where it can keep on living and thriving. What in these last 20 years, or more, has not been an Elseworlds? The Arrowvere just fits like a glove in there. I truly hope Justice U could go there and even some rightful revivals could see new life there. (LoT, Batwoman and of course STARGIRL Jesus Christ that cancellation was straighout cruel but it sure helped me to realize how awful those Nexstar cheap execs are)

A little hope doesn't never hurt.
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 5/20/2023, 7:24 AM
@MisterRiviera - You're out of line! But not wrong. lol I'm in the category of one who would have enjoyed Barry just running around the whole episode and none of the side character drama in it Ha Ha. Also ya LOT had a great fanbase but that sort of changed towards later seasons where they weren't fun anymore either.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 5/20/2023, 3:34 AM
That interview was great. And the fact that the show was able to make it to get a cover is not just a great tribute but also an acknowledgement of the cultural impact it has had in these last 9-10 years or so.





Tdlr; I see that it's always the trades like EW and such that spread the notion around that the Arrowverse is ending because Flash ends and it's set in Earth Prime aka the main Earth where the Arrowverse's shared universe main stories take place and have taken since the start but tbh that's just reductive. Many fans out there on SM still view their peers shows that take place in other Earths as also part of the Arrowverse. Whether you wanan call it the "Extended Arrowverse" or not, the message is unanimous in the fanbase: S&L (and so did Stargirl after finding out what S4's story was gonna be about) takes place in the Arrowverse too because it belongs to it's shared DC TV Multiverse that it launched. (Thanks to Flash though)

So Grant made the final call in the end. Was not expecting that tbh, I really thought it was Nexstar. But ok I get it and in a way it could've been a blessing in disguisde because Nexstar could have just gone and axe it like it's done with all of the others and knowing beforehand that Wallace was planning ahead for a whole "shorter" story from S9 and S10 maybe it's best Grant made the choice. Nexstar could've asked him to cut down 80% of the budget if he wanted it to be renew and that's just illogical and a studid stipulation. (This is what Jensen Ackles apparently shared in a convention months ago about The Winchester's renewal chances)

And I also don't know how S10 could've worked without Candice as Iris.

But I am glad that Grant repeats in the interview (and in the video I'll post below too) that he's always up for any new Flash pitch if anybody calls him for because he's embracing the character fully even post filming and has no shame that he is gonna be associated with the character forever and he'll be close to the fandom always by going to conventions. In a way it always leaves the door open for more Arrowverse stories with those kind of comments.



I'll share other links that talk about more about the finale from the cast knowing when it was the time to leave, the showrunner not writing the show's ending as an ending for the Arrowverse but just for the show, how it matches with the ending of other shows and why Carlos Valdes aka Cisco couldn't make it to the finale.

https://ew.com/tv/the-flash-grant-gustin-candice-patton-carlos-valdes-tom-cavanagh-why-they-left/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=new&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=6467f17be7c0510001a1ced7

https://ew.com/tv/carlos-valdes-not-returning-the-flash-series-finale/

https://ew.com/tv/the-flash-finale-arrowverse-future/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=new&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=64666914e99eac0001818427

https://ew.com/tv/the-flash-showrunner-series-finale-like-the-office-lost-angel/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=new&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=64677a978b989000013462f8

@KingPatel @JoshWilding

Oh and also:

"With that in mind, we're not banking on seeing The Flash team up with the Man of Steel!"
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 5/20/2023, 3:49 AM
PS: What I am definitely sure is that Nexstar was the one that only gave them 13 episodes to wrap up the series instead of giving them the usual and expected 20+ eps order to have more time with the characters and the stories.

I recall Wallace saying in a TVLine interview last year, post S8, that S9 would have 2 bid bads and he has sticked to that with Red Death and Cobalt Blue. Had S9 not been forced to only work with only 13 episodes (which I slowly became aware over time that it was gonna be their cheap standart for handling budget as evidenced in Walker & All American now also being reduced to only having 13 as well) I can imagine Red Death's arc would've lasted a little beyond 5 episodes and Eddie's return and manipulation to become Cobalt Blue would just be heating up right now instead of ending.

Could have led to a final set of S9 episodes involving the Flash Family in some sort of Chain Lightning adaptation at best.

Never sell your broadcast network to a bunch of lazy and greedy suits that just care about crap unscripted programming.
MisterRiviera
MisterRiviera - 5/21/2023, 6:40 PM
@NinnesMBC - If the season had more episodes then we definitely would have had more fleshed-out arcs. As for Nexstar though the sale was necessary. The CW as a stand-alone entity didn't make any money. It also seems that The CW didn't have the right demographics. While it targeted teens and young adults it were mostly 30+ year olds that watched the channel. Nexstar also isn't responsible for the cancellation of Legends and Batwoman. That was a choice by the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery that didn't want to renew the lease they had on a studio where Legends and Batwoman were being filmed.

What I do know is that Nexstar wants to make The CW be able to compete with the Big Four ( NBC,ABC,CBS and Fox ). They want more diversity in shows such as mature police dramas etc. Personally, I find that disappointing because The CW was unique in that regard.
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