Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for The Flash season 9, episode 9, "It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To."John Diggle's appearance in The Flash season 9 completely ignored his upcoming Justice U spinoff. It is unclear if this was because the series is being planned to tie into the Earth of Superman and Lois, or if the series' future is uncertain given recent management changes at The CW and DC Studios. In either case, it avoids a mistake made by the final season of Arrow.
John Diggle was among the many friends gathered for Barry Allen's surprise birthday party in The Flash season 9, episode 9, "It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To." He was also among the people who were possessed by the villain Bloodwork, as he schemed to manipulate Kid Flash Wally West into helping him enslave multiple worlds across the multiverse. This threat enabled Oliver Queen, still serving as The Spectre and the guardian angel of the Multiverse, to step in and end the threat, reuniting himself with his friends for a night.
The Flash Season 9 Teases Diggle's Future - But Ignores Justice-U
The reunion between John Diggle and Oliver Queen gave the two a chance to say goodbye that had been denied to them during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event. The two also had a chance to discuss Diggle's discovery of an alien artifact in the series finale of Arrow, which teased the possibility of Diggle becoming a Green Lantern. Oliver confirmed that the cube had been a test of Diggle's resolve and assured his brother that "all of your brightest days are ahead of you, because they'll be spent with your family." This made direct reference to Diggle's future but said nothing about the upcoming Justice U series.
Not Committing To Justice-U Setup Avoids Green Arrow & The Canaries' Mistake
It's possible that The Flash avoided teasing the Justice U spinoff to avoid the possibility of what happened to Green Arrow and the Canaries. The proposed spinoff to Arrow, centering around Oliver Queen's future daughter, Mia, and the time-displaced Black Canaries Dinah Drake and Laurel Lance, was given a pilot in the penultimate episode of Arrow season 8. Despite high ratings, The CW declined to continue the series. This cast a shadow on the final season of Arrow, making the entire storyline seem pointless. It didn't help matters that Mia's cameo in The Flash season 8 did nothing to resolve the cliffhanger involving her kidnapped brother, William.
Will Justice-U Still Happen?
First teased in early 2022, Justice U is a new Arrowverse spinoff that will star David Ramsey as John Diggle. Ramsey is also scheduled to direct the pilot episode. The series will focus on Diggle as he mentors a team of five young heroes at a prestigious university. While Ramsey said Justice U was still in development as recently as December 2022, the lack of updates and management changes at both The CW network and DC Studios have raised questions about whether the show will still be produced.
The fact that The Flash season 9 does not tease Diggle's future in Justice U could be taken as a sign that the series is in trouble and that the writers of The Flash wished to avoid doing what Arrow did, setting up a spinoff that seemed uncertain to occur. Conversely, Justice U could still be in the works, but The Flash writers avoided a direct reference since they know nothing about the proposed series and had no idea what they should say about Diggle's future beyond the fact that it would be spent happily with his family. Either possibility is equally likely.
Another possibility is that Justice U will be set on the same Earth as Superman and Lois, which has been shown to have its own version of John Diggle. This seems probable, as the Department of Defense in Superman and Lois has been shown to sponsor a program that trains metahuman teenagers in using their powers to train them to become soldiers. It is possible that Diggle, who also works for the American government as an agent of ARGUS, could wind up overseeing the Justice U program in order to supervise those young heroes who are determined to be a poor fit for military life.
This would explain why The Flash did not mention Justice U, as it would not make sense for the series set on Earth-Prime to set up a spinoff for the John Diggle of Superman and Lois. This scenario also makes sense, given Diggle's desire to work a job that lets him spend more time with his wife and children but also to help protect his world. Mentoring young heroes who have trouble working within the system also sounds like an ideal position for the John Diggle of any Earth.
The Flash season 9 continues on Wednesdays on The CW.
