The Flash: Jesse L. Martin Departs as Series Regular After 8 Seasons

Jesse L. Martin, who plays Detective Joe West on The Flash, will leave the show as a series regular at the end of this season. With the end of The Flash likely coming in the next couple of years, Martin has signed on to head up the NBC pilot The Irrational. According to Deadline, who broke the news, Martin's 2022-2023 season filming schedule will allow for him to appear in as many as five episodes of The Flash. Martin previously took a leave of absence from the series for health reasons in 2018, returning in 2019. Given the importance of Joe's wife Cecile to The Flash, it seems unlikely the West patriarch will relocate completely, as that would require Danielle Nicolet to appear less, too.

The CW recently picked up The Flash for a ninth season, despite widespread rumors that star Grant Gustin was ready to move on. It is not yet clear whether the ninth season will be the show's last.

Martin is one of only four remaining original cast members on The Flash, along with Gustin, Candice Patton, and Danielle Panabaker. All four had contracts that expired at the end of season 8, which is currently ongoing. Gustin has already signed on for a ninth season, with Patton and Panabaker expected to return. Deadline says that Martin had "not been approached" to return.

The pilot for The Irrational will be shot in late May-early June in Vancouver, where The Flash also films, and if it gets picked up will likely be a midseason show for NBC, as it will not be finished in time for May upfronts.

In addition to being the father of Iris and Wally West, Joe was the legal guardian of Barry Allen as a child, when his mother was murdered by the Reverse-Flash and his father framed. The character has long served as the unofficial police liaison to Team Flash -- a role that is being subtly handed off to Captain Kramer (Carmen Moore), who learned Barry's true identity in a recent episode.

A report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests that The Flash's ninth season may not only be its last, but might be abbreviated, in the same way Arrow's final season was when it aired in 2019 and 2020. Currently, new episodes of The Flash air on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. With DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman not yet renewed for next season, that rumor is likely to fuel fan speculation that the "Arrowverse" is coming to an abrupt end.