The Flash star Grant Gustin reveals that, before the nationwide shutdown, negotiations had already begun to renew his contract for a season 8 and 9 of the hit CW show. Gustin plays the lead character Barry Allen, who protects the citizens of Central City as the red speedster known as The Flash. The superhero show premiered on The CW in 2014, and was the second show to become part of the channel's "Arrowverse." The first, of course, was Arrow, which recently aired its series finale, making The Flash The CW's longest-running superhero series. Next to join the network is the spin-off Superman & Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch, who have already played the titular characters in various crossover events.
The Flash, which also stars Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, and Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells, is currently finishing up its sixth season, which was forcibly shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic. This caused the show to abandon its initial season 6 finale plans and, instead, the season ended on a new cliffhanger, making episode 19 the season's last. Showrunner Eric Wallace promises more surprises in the last few episodes, which will lead to the seventh season. Thankfully, The CW already renewed the show for another season back in January.
The news of negotiations comes from Gustin's recent guest appearance on the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum is most known for playing Lex Luthor on Smallville. Throughout the interview, Gustin talks about dealing with depression and anxiety, his love of Broadway, and of course, his work on The Flash. He addresses the season 7 renewal and states that it is, as of right now, the last one in his contract. Discussing the possibility for more seasons, Gustin says, “The conversations actually had started already for adding a potential eighth and ninth [season], but then this pandemic happened, and everything has stopped.”
Rosenbaum also asks about when production might start up again. Gustin says, “We don’t know when we’re back, and I don’t know when we’re going to continue the renegotiation talks." Podcast host Rosenbaum started his show back in May 2018, with Tom Welling as his first guest (Welling played Clark Kent opposite Rosenbaum's Lex Luther on Smallville). Since then, Rosenbaum has produced over 100 episodes, interviewing various actors and other creatives about the more personal aspects of their lives. Previous guests include other Arrowverse actors, like Stephen Amell and Katherine McNamara.
With such great success and continuing growth of the Arrowverse, The CW is unlikely to let such a popular show like The Flash end before it has to. If the cast is willing to continue doing it, the channel will likely keep it on the air. For example, Arrow ended after eight action-packed seasons, and another hit CW show, Supernatural, is ending this year after fifteen seasons. Though these comments from Gustin ultimately mean nothing about the future of The Flash, the news that The CW began negotiations indicates their possible desire to continue the show's run for a few more years.