The Flash showrunner is 'hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over'

Sydney Bucksbaum
·3 min read
The Flash showrunner is 'hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over'
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When The Flash races across the finish line in next week's series finale, it marks the end of an era. As the last standing Arrowverse series, The CW's interconnected TV universe is ending with it. But showrunner Eric Wallace tells EW that he didn't write an ending for the Arrowverse in the episode in the hopes that another show can keep it alive in the future.

"I still am hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over," Wallace tells EW in our latest cover story (speaking prior to the writers' strike). "I've approached it as The Flash is over and I want to make the best Flash series finale as possible. On the other side, of course, there's no Batwoman. There's no Legends. There's no Black Lightning. There's no Arrow or Supergirl. It is very strange. All of the shows that were on Earth-Prime, they're all going away. So what does that mean? I don't know."

The Flash
The Flash

Bettina Strauss/The CW Grant Gustin as The Flash and John Wesley shipp as Jay Garrick on 'The Flash'

After Arrow's successful debut in 2012, the Arrowverse officially began when Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) spun-off into his own series in 2013 and the network aired its inaugural crossover, "Flash vs. Arrow." Over the next decade, the shared TV universe grew exponentially, eventually hitting its peak in 2019-2020's massive "Crisis on Infinite Earths" saga. Arrow concluded its run shortly after, marking the beginning of the end. Supergirl and Black Lightning followed suit the next year — and in 2022, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were canceled (too soon!). When Superman & Lois declared in its season 2 finale that it no longer exists on the same Earth where the TV universe takes place, The Flash officially became the last standing Arrowverse series.

"I'm going to have lunch with [Superman & Lois showrunner] Todd [Helbing] in the next couple weeks," Wallace says. "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.'"

Helbing (who served as showrunner on The Flash for seasons 2-5) smiles as he thinks about the potential of keeping the Arrowverse alive if Superman & Lois reverses its decision. But he doesn't know if he'll even get that chance, as his series hasn't been renewed yet, and the CW's slate of original shows continues to get slashed by new owner Nexstar. "I will say this, it sure is a lot easier now that the other shows aren't on the air, people's schedules are a lot easier to work around, so … maybe," he tells EW (speaking prior to the writers' strike). "I would love to bring Grant on, and I think it would be a lot of fun to have Candice [Patton]'s Iris with [Elizabeth Tulloch's] Lois Lane. So we'll see."

As of now — and whether he likes it or not — Wallace is bringing the Arrowverse to a close when The Flash series finale airs Wednesday. "I've wrapped up a lot of things in the series finale, and it ends on a very hopeful note that shows you how the future of the Arrowverse could continue in some way, shape, or form," he says. "It hopefully gives people closure, but also some hope for the future, because otherwise it's very sad to think that there's no more crossovers, that there won't be an Arrowverse after May 24. That saddens me because I love it so much, and it was such a big part of not just my life, but a whole fan base's life."

The Flash series finale airs Wednesday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.

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