Grant Gustin, who has portrayed Barry Allen in the Arrowverse since 2013, responds to The Flash season 9 being the series' last in an emotional video message. 2022 has been a bittersweet year for The CW's Arrowverse franchise. With the massive changes going on behind the scenes as The CW gets new owners, the network canceled Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and the new DC TV series Naomi. While The CW will have DC TV content for the 2022-2023 TV season, Stargirl season 3 is the only DC drama to air this fall.
The Flash, which has been airing since October 2014, officially became the Arowverse's longest-running series as of season 8 with episode 171, which was the season finale. While The Flash will be back for season 9, The CW officially made the decision this week to make it the final one. The Flash season 9, which is slated to premiere in 2023, will have a 13-episode order, and will finish the story of Gustin's Barry Allen and Team Flash.
Gustin, who has portrayed The Flash since his 2-episode arc in Arrow season 2, has now broken his silence following the news of season 9 being its final one. In an emotional Instagram video, Gustin thanks the fans for all the support over the years and how grateful he is to have been playing The Flash for all this time. Check out his video response below.
Click here to view the original video on Instagram
To say The Flash coming to an end is bittersweet is an understatement. Since The Flash's beginning, it has remained one of The CW's top-rated dramas, still having the most watched pilot out of any other series that has premiered on the network. The Flash has always been integral to the Arrowverse crossovers, primarily Crisis on Infinite Earths, as its pilot placed the seeds for the iconic DC storyline to eventually be adapted in 2019. As expected, there have been strong fan reactions online to The Flash season 9 being the end of the Arrowverse drama.
While it's sad to see Gustin's time as The Flash come to an end next year, the actor will have one of the greatest legacies within the Arrowverse and DC franchise. Gustin will join the likes of Smallville's Tom Welling in having played an iconic DC character for quite a long time. No details have yet been shared on what is in store for The Flash season 9 as the show doesn't go back into production until September. What is certain is that it will be a massive chapter closed for the Arrowverse once The Flash has aired its final episode. With Superman & Lois now being Arrowverse-adjacent due to taking place on another Earth, The Flash will be the final Earth-Prime series to air on The CW.
Source: Grant Gustin