EXCLUSIVE: There has been a change in the CW‘s plans for The Flash. Originally, the character, played by Grant Gustin, was supposed to appear in three episodes of Arrow this season — No. 8, No. 9 and No. 20, the last one serving as a backdoor pilot directed by David Nutter. Episodes 8 and 9, in which the superhero is introduced only as his alter ego Barry Allen, have already been shot. But now the CW has opted to film a traditional stand-alone Flash pilot instead of doing a backdoor pilot as Arrow‘s Episode 20. With Episodes 8 and 9 serving as an origin story, the plan was for The Flash character to make his debut — red costume and all — in Arrow‘s Episode 20. He will now do it in the pilot. The creative team remains the same, with Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and series scribe Geoff Johns writing the pilot and Nutter, who helmed the pilot for Arrow, directing. Berlanti, Kreisberg and Nutter executive produce, with Melissa Kellner Berman co-executive producing.
The decision was made after CW brass saw cuts of Episodes 8 and 9, which have been very well received. Filming a stand-alone Flash pilot would allow the creators to better flesh out the superhero’s story and his world on a bigger budget, as pilot budgets are significantly higher than episodic ones. While no longer a full-blown spinoff, The Flash still will be tethered to the Arrow universe since the the character (as Barry Allen) will first be introduced there. In light of the pilot order, it is unclear whether Episode 20 of Arrow will feature the Flash or any reference to him. The Arrow producers are expected to discuss their ideas for the episode with the CW this coming week. On Arrow, Barry Allen (Gustin) is a Central City assistant police forensics investigator who arrives in Starling to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a connection to a tragedy in his past. A comic book fanboy, Barry is obsessed with the Arrow unaware that working with Oliver and Felicity to solve the crime has brought him right into the dangerous world of the vigilante.
Smallville was a success with the fact that on the CW it lasted as Lingala it did and it was a decent show. Arrow is one of the higher rated shows on the CW and it was originally supposed to be a one season thin it’s ratings brought it back for season 2
My opinion. I think WB/DC is trying to put a spice on the screens making fans crave and wait. I think since Smallville introduced Justice League, they make TV series about the life of each heroes taking their time cause let’s face it, if they form Justice League today,who would want to wait for the TV series of each heroes? That would make no sense at all anymore. Like the other guy said, since Marvel formed the Avengers, less ratings appeared at the other heroes. Plus Cinematic and Series differ in such a way that TV series scrutenize the life of each which makes it fun to watch and makes the fans wait and crave for the next Episode. I do agree though that DC should make these series hell good for fans to wait for the next episodes. I do think also that making Arrow and Flash at the same time would be a little nice. Maybe DC/WB don’t want to bore their fans/viewers that much of a wait. These cravings for the next episode with months or weeks gap of episode releases is fine but who would want to wait for a cake ordered today be deliver next year or two years or so. They would rather hang themselves than wait if that’s the case. So Doing a Flash and Arrow series combo would pretty much spice up the Heroes TV Series lil bit nice. Well that’s my opinion ofcourse, respect. :)
Being the company that “owns DC” IS NOT the same as owning the film rights to a particular character. For example, Marvel still doesn’t own the film rights to ALL of their characters. A case in point: the film rights to Spider Man are owned by Sony pictures. No, DC does not own the film rights to all of their characters, so the OP’s comments stand.
It is interesting how you are bashing on the third highest grossing movie of all time. yeah it was absolutely horrible that must be why nobody went to see it oh wait
As a huge fan of comic books watching Comic Book movies and shows can sometimes be painful because they end up butchering the source material. Examples of this can be found pretty much everywhere you look in comic book adaptations. What I love about Arrow is that they own it. They make it very clear in the storytelling that this is a completely different universe than the source material while staying true to the underlying character. The same thing was done with Smallville which I believe is why it was such a success and had such a loyal following. I am ecstatic to see them bring to life one of my favorite DC characters (though I do prefer Wally West to Barry Allen because I think his character provides more comedy). Yes I said that The Flash is one of my favorite characters and those of you out there who think he is boring please go back and read the source material.