Showrunner Eric Wallace discusses whether or not The Flash season 9 can be used to resolve unfinished storylines from Legends of Tomorrow following that show's cancellation. 2022 became the roughest year for the Arrowverse as the franchise's status quo got shaken up by The CW. In previous years, the network was infamous for handing out several renewals early in the year, allowing the creative teams to start planning the next seasons sooner. However, when The CW kicked off 2022 with the reveal that WarnerMedia and Paramount are looking to sell the network after 16 years, it was the beginning of several domino effects.
While Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finished its run in March, they had to go into their finale without knowing if there would be a season 8. The CW didn't start to hand out renewals until later that month, where The Flash season 9 and Superman & Lois season 3 were the only 2 Arrowverse dramas to score a pick-up for next year. Batwoman season 3 was in a similar position where they didn't know if they would have another season. Ultimately, The CW decided not to go forward with Batwoman season 4 and Legends of Tomorrow season 8, as they canceled both DC shows in April.
After Legends of Tomorrow got canceled, Arrowverse fans have been hoping for the possibility of seeing one of the other shows be able to finish their unresolved cliffhangers. With The Flash being a show that regularly features characters from other shows, TVLine asked showrunner Eric Wallace if that is something The Flash season 9 can do. As much as Wallace would love to save Legends of Tomorrow, it's not something that he can promise at this point, sharing the following:
“I don’t even know what my order is. Going to save the Legends…. As much as I’d love to do that, that’s not something that is very easy to do in a season when I may have to wrap up my own story. I want to be honest, and not get anybody’s hopes up!”
While most season finales of Legends of Tomorrow have ended with their latest arcs wrapped up, this year was different. At the end of the Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finale, the heroes got arrested by the Time Police following several violations. This was also part of Donald Faison's Arrowverse introduction as the DC Comics superhero Michael Jon Carter, a.k.a. Booster Gold. Had Legends of Tomorrow season 8 happened, Booster Gold would have been a full-time cast member.
As great as it would be to see The Flash season 9 be able to get the Legends out of trouble, Wallace makes a point that it's not an easy task at all. If The Flash season 9 ends up being the final one, the season has to service its characters to give them proper conclusions. It would also be very tricky for The Flash to somehow make room in the budget for Legends of Tomorrow's nine cast members and have them all available simultaneously for a crossover like that. If they find out early that The Flash season 10 is happening, perhaps a Legends of Tomorrow crossover could take place in the back half of season 9 at the very least. However, it would still be heavily challenging to work that out logistically. The Flash season 8 returns with new episodes on The CW on Wednesday, June 8.
Source: TVLine