Why won't there be The Flash season 10? Grant Gustin explains all
The hit series is coming to an end – and so is the Arrowverse.
The Flash season 9 has drawn to a close, marking the end of the road for the series after almost a decade of airing on The CW.
But this wasn’t always the plan. Series showrunner Eric Wallace recently revealed that not only was season 9 originally planned as a longer season, but there were also initially plans for a season 10.
"Well, the fascinating thing was in approaching the stories for the final season," Wallace told The Nerds of Color.
"I had originally had a two-year plan for the series for seasons 9 and 10. And it culminated with this incredible 200th episode, a spectacular, wonderful emotional event that was meant to happen.
"That was before we got the news that this is going to be our last season. That was going to be a season 9, only I found myself in a position going, 'Wow, I have a whole bunch of story for 40 episodes that I'm now going to cram into 13'. So, it wasn't a case of what to do. It was what not to do."
If you're a DC Comics super-fan wondering why Team Flash chose now to bow out, here's everything the cast and creatives have said about that fateful decision.
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Why won't there be The Flash season 10?
As detailed above, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace recently revealed that he had originally intended to continue the series for 10 seasons, finishing things off with the 200th episode.
However, star Grant Gustin had been considering leaving the show for the past couple of years, citing changes in his personal life and satisfaction with the story told as two key reasons why.
"It just felt like time," Gustin said. "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."
He continued: "Initially when we all signed on, it was a six-year run that got extended to seven. I got married while filming season 5. I had a kid during season 7 — so obviously, you start thinking about life changes at that point... 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."
Will the Arrowverse return?
The end of The Flash also marks the end of the Arrowverse, with The CW's remaining DC shows – Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights – taking place in a different continuity altogether.
The shared universe shrank remarkably quickly after 2020's Crisis on Infinite Earths, with the COVID pandemic and The CW's drastically reduced budget undoubtedly being contributing factors to that decline.
Indeed, the fringe US network has cancelled almost all of its scripted programming (besides Jared Padalecki's Walker and sports drama All-American), but is yet to announce a decision on the fate of its two DC projects. If Superman & Lois is spared the axe, The Flash showrunner Wallace hopes it will keep the Arrowverse flame alive.
"I still am hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over," he told EW. "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 Todd [Helbing, Superman & Lois boss] in the next couple weeks, 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.'"
Is Grant Gustin in The Flash movie?
The Flash television series – and the Arrowverse at large – may be over for now, but DC's Scarlet Speedster remains part of the zeitgeist with a feature film adaptation coming this summer.
Set in DC's hit-and-miss cinematic universe, which also includes Batman v Superman, Justice League and Suicide Squad, the blockbuster stars Ezra Miller's incarnation of The Flash alongside a number of familiar faces.
From Michael Shannon's General Zod to Michael Keaton's Batman, The Flash is poised to be a celebration of DC on film – but does that include its small screen fare? According to Nerdist, almost – but not quite.
At a fan event, director Andy Muschietti said: "Of course, as I said before the list of [potential] cameos… was huge. So obviously we played with the idea of including DC characters from TV, but we just had to pick."
That sounds like a no, unfortunately.
Miller and Gustin had previously crossed paths during the aforementioned Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, where their versions of The Flash shared a brief scene together.
The Flash season 9 is airing on Sky Max – sign up for Sky TV here or stream on NOW. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
