The Flash Showrunner Reveals His Hope for Barry and Iris Before Series Ends

Since the introduction of Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) on The CW's The Flash — as well as that of Bart Allen (Jordan Fisher) — fans have been wondering when Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) would find out that they were expecting one or both of their future children in the show's present timeline. With the series' present-day timeline getting closer to when the pair would be expected to become parents — and with The Flash now the last remaining Arrowverse series on the network, fans are wondering if that revelation will happen before the series ends. Now, series showrunner Eric Wallace weighs in — and discusses the challenge of dealing with uncertain futures for the series.

"I hope!" Wallace told TVLine regarding the question about Nora and Bart. "I don't know how much time I have."

Wallace went on to explain that he goes into every season having to be prepared for it to be the series' last and that hasn't changed as the show heads into Season 9.

"I have to always write as if it's the final season, but hope it's not," Wallace said. "I've been in that position for two years — going back to the end of Season 7, when we had [WestAllen] renew their vows — and I'm in the same position now. So, let's just call it a friendly challenge for myself and the writers."

Wallace has previously spoken about how getting renewals can change the direction of a season finale, with the Season 8 finale being a prime example of having to pivot with the order of a new season.

"We had to change the whole final scene," Wallace said. "We had to rewrite it three different times because when it was a series finale, we had to have a much more deep conversation with Barry and Iris, dealing with the fact that they were going to have kids soon. It was a little bit sexier, and it was a lot more romantic of a scene. I really liked it."

Wallace also explained that the series finale version of the episode also had a Team Flash goodbye, but that ended up cut — and the show was able to tee up the Season 9 big bad instead by visiting 2049 and that ominous blue crystal. What didn't really change, however, was the showdown between The Flash (Gustin) and Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh) that saw the series-long foe defeated at last. Wallace told ComicBook.com that, even with the show continuing on, that death is real — even if they hope to have Cavanagh back on the show next season.

"We had to go, 'Oh, oops, oh. Hey, he's super dead. How do we come back from this?'" I have no idea, to be honest with you. I'm not going to worry about it, it made for a good ending," Wallace said. "We're going to take a break. We will have some new villains next year. The question is, will Tom ever be the Reverse Flash on our show again? I don't know, man, because just like Frost, the Reverse Flash of a negative Reverse Flash that he became, they are truly dead. But having said that, I can't imagine a season of The Flash without just a little bit of the awesomeness that Tom Cavanagh brings, in some capacity."

The Flash will return for Season 9 in 2023.