It’s official: The Flash’s upcoming ninth season will be its last.
The CW announced Monday that its DC Comics superhero drama directed by Warner Bros.’ Grant Gustin. TV and Greg Berlanti Productions will end with a final run of 13 episodes. The conclusion of one of the network’s most-watched shows will air in 2023 as part of its midseason slate. Production on the final season will begin next month.
“Nine seasons! Nine years saving Central City while taking audiences on an emotional journey full of heart, humor and spectacle. And now Barry Allen has reached the exit door of his final career,” said the executive producer/showrunner Eric Wallace in a statement Monday. “So many amazing people have given their talent, time and love to bring this wonderful show to life every week. So as we prepare to honor the show’s incredible legacy with our exciting final chapter, I want to say thank you to our phenomenal cast, writers, producers and crew over the years who have helped make The Flash such an unforgettable experience for audiences around the world.”
News that The Flash is coming to an end has been widely speculated since before the ninth season was officially announced as part of The CW’s first renewals in March. The series was about to end with its eighth season, but both the network and the studio were able to secure new deals for star Gustin and his co-stars, including Candice Patton. This paved the way for a ninth season and Wallace and company to rework last season’s finale, which was initially written as the final season, as rumors of the show’s conclusion had circulated for much of the last year.
The eighth season finished as one of The CW’s most-watched shows of the 2021-22 broadcast cycle, averaging 1 million viewers and is among its most-watched series on digital platforms.
The Flash was one of The CW’s first ventures into DC Comics properties under executive producer Berlanti. The shared universe helped redefine The CW and brought male viewers to what had previously been a female-leaning network. The remaining DC properties slated to join The Flash in The CW’s 2022-23 schedule include Superman & Lois (season three) and debutant Gotham Knights. The latter will join The Flash in 2023.
With the formal end of The Flash, the series joins Warner Bros.-produced drama Riverdale as a series ending the 2022-23 season. The conclusion of both shows comes amid The CW’s reduced volume of scripted originals as the younger network is up for sale, with station group Nexstar nearing a deal to buy it from owners Warner Bros. TV and CBS Studios.
After canceling more shows than it renewed/ordered for the first time in over a decade, The CW’s scripted slate also includes All American and its spinoff, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Superman & Lois , Walker and the rookie Gotham Knights, Walker: Independence and the supernatural prequel The Winchesters.