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Will The Flash be the only show in the OG Arrowverse to make it to season 10?
By Sabrina Reed
The Flash is heading into its eighth season come The CW’s fall programming launch which will see the superhero drama return on Tuesday, November 16.
With Arrow having went off air in 2020 and Supergirl taking a final bow with its sixth season extending into the fall, The Flash is one of the last remaining shows from the OG Arrowverse to remain on air. The second is Legends of Tomorrow whose seventh season will make its landing in October.
If The Flash is renewed for a season 9, it will officially become the longest running show in the Arrowverse, surpassing its predecessor Arrow which gave rise to the ‘verse on the network.
Arguably the most beloved and popular superhero drama on The CW, the scarlet speedster’s series is the only one out of the OG Arrowverse likely to make it to a tenth season. Despite a drop in ratings, as TVLine noted in their piece about shows with a potential of hitting a tenth season milestone, The Flash‘s season-over-season audience draw is undeniable.
But will it be enough to push the series into a tenth season?
The Flash has a chance of making it to season 10 on The CW
Of course, renewals are ultimately dependent on the network, but the actor’s contracts also factor into the decision. Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes departed the series in season 7, but Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Jesse L. Martin, and Danielle Panabaker have all renewed their contracts through season 8 which means the show will still retain four of its OG cast members in the next season.
The departure of Valdes and Cavanagh, however, does leave fans wondering if The Flash is in its final years. I believe the series is heading toward its end but not imminently. There’s been no word that the eighth season will be the show’s last or that that’s what showrunner Eric Wallace foresees in the cards.
In a sit-down with Deadline, Wallace expressed an interest in more seasons of the superhero drama considering the creative team isn’t through with the scarlet speedster’s story yet.
"I feel this show could run easily for at least several more seasons, and possibly beyond. Because I feel like every season, we, as a writing staff, have to decide between all the wonderful stories we want to tell, versus how many episodes we actually have to tell them. We have so much more that we’d love to show the audience and give to them, as a thank you for coming along on this ride with us, but we just can’t get to it. That’s why I say, there’s many more seasons worth of stories to tell, at least from our creative perspective."
While I’m not of the mind that The Flash has “several more seasons” left in it. I do believe it does have three more seasons worth of material especially in terms of getting Barry to a place where he can pass the torch on to the next generation of speedsters possibly through his children XS and Impulse. Also, wrapping up Reverse Flash’s story seems like it would take at least two seasons to tell at the pace that The Flash usually moves.
Bearing that in mind, if the series is renewed for a ninth season, it feels like the next step would be to make its final season, its tenth. To date, Smallville is the only superhero drama on the network that made it to season 10. It seems fitting that The Flash would be among that historic company given the show’s place in pop culture.
Gustin also name dropped the show when speaking to ET Online. When asked how much longer he sees himself playing Barry Allen, he had this to say:
"Listen, I may never have a job this cool again, that this many people actually tune in to watch, so I’m not gonna take it for granted. I was talking to Michael Rosenbaum the other day and to go as many seasons as they did with Smallville, like, nobody gets to do that! That’s always been something I thought would be really cool to accomplish. It’s not just my decision, obviously, but it has a lot to do with the viewers, and the network, and I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. But I can definitely see myself doing more than just the one [season] that I have left on this current contract. Seven [seasons] is it for most of the cast actually, but I think it would be great if we can continue after that."
While it’s true that The Flash crew are itching to do other projects, and Gustin has more than once spoken about his desire to return to theater and do some films, if the show can be stretched to a tenth season, I think the creatives behind the series would make it work.
The numbers, however, have to be on their side. The TV landscape is changing, and the likelihood of a tenth season being viable for any other show on The CW is low. Yes, even Riverdale will probably tap out after eight seasons. So, if we’re coming upon the end of the ten season tv show era then The Flash should be that last series to reach that milestone on the network. It’s almost there as it is.
What do you think? Should The Flash go beyond an eighth season all the way to a tenth and final bow on The CW? Let us know in the comments below!
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