Running for almost a decade, Grant Gustin’s tenure as The Flash came to a close with Season 9 a year ago. The series finale saw Eddie’s resurrection and transformation into Cobalt Blue, who later reconciled with Barry to save the timeline. However, they don’t exactly part ways as friends. The show ends with Nora’s birth and Barry passing on the mantle to new speedsters.
However, showrunner Eric Wallace had envisioned a different path for the series finale, extending to Season 10 and taking its episode count to 200 before the network decided to conclude the series after nine seasons. Wallace’s plan for the finale included a proposed Blackest Night crossover, promising an ambitious storyline that could rival even Zack Snyder’s twisted take on DC superheroes.
The Flash Creator Revealed His Original Plan For the Series Finale
In a conversation with The Nerds of Color, The Flash creator Eric Wallace revealed that initially, he had a two-year plan for the series finale, which included extending the show to a 10th season with a spectacular 200th episode that would have served as a conclusion of the series.
“That was before we got the news that this is going to be our last season,” he shared, as he reflected on how it brought him the challenge of condensing 40 episodes worth of story in just 13 episodes. “So it wasn’t a case of what to do. It was what not to do,” he said.
During the interview, he also highlighted the missed opportunities and potential story arcs that they could have explored if things happened as they expected them to. Wallace said that they were planning to tackle The Forever War storyline as the season opener and a crossover inspired by the Blackest Night.
“We were gonna do all kinds of things. I can tell you we were going to tackle The Forever War storyline — I wanted to do a full on crossover with as many characters as possible. The Blackest Night storyline that we started hinting at last year with Diggle and the box.”
Wallace had also planned an alien invasion featuring Despero and the Justice League. “So yeah, it kind of bums me out that we’re not going to do that,” Wallace said, expressing disappointment that all his plans did not come to fruition. Exploring death, resurrection, and the emotional spectrum, the Blackest Night could have been one of the darkest DC adaptations.
The Flash Season Finale Would Have Been a Blackest Night Adaptation For Arrowverse Crossover
Eric Wallace also shared that he started hinting at the Blackest Night storyline in the earlier season with David Ramsey’s John Diggle finding a mysterious box. And the potential crossover would have united characters from Superman & Lois, Stargirl, and Titans.
He explained that Deathstorm’s defeat in Season 8 would have triggered events leading to the emergence of Nekron, a character from the comics. In the Blackest Night comic, released in 2009, Nekron resurrects various dead heroes and villains to join his Black Lantern Corps to eliminate life from the universe.
After this Hal Jordan is forced to unite the various other Lantern Corps to stop the undead army. Geoff Johns’ 2009 comic series also features The Flash embroiled in the Blackest Night chaos alongside Hal Jordan.
And the showrunner had envisioned a massive crossover event that would bring characters from different shows, even those who had previously died. However, the lack of prominent Green Lanterns in the Arrowverse may have caused the series to downplay in its adaptation.
The Flash is available to stream on Prime Video.
