The Flash will be back for another season of superheroics in under a month. Series Star Candice Patton talked to Comicbook.com’s Brandon Davis about some of the changes coming the show’s way this Fall. (Check out the full interview above.) A big topic hanging over everything going on with the Arrowverse this season is how that core franchise’s departure will affect the remaining shows. She said that the cast owed a large debt to Arrow.
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“It’s really weird, I didn’t notice that until someone said it earlier. We’re the senior class now, it’s crazy. You have to give credit to Arrow, they’re the ones who started this. This show, this cast, these producers. They laid the groundwork for what makes these shows successful and we followed the template. We did our own thing, but they really figured out, through trial and error, what makes a show last for eight seasons. We owe them a lot for giving us a pathway to be successful,” Patton said.
Life without Oliver Queen is going to be weird just like Patton said there. Arrow has been on for eight seasons now and the entire Arrowverse was carefully crafted around the one that started it all. “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is a crossover event that promises to be the biggest DC TV Universe event that any of these shows has ever seen. Arrow‘s heroes are going to be right in the thick of it, but no one from any of these shows is entirely safe.
Fans have even started wondering what to call the “Arrowverse” now that the titular show won’t be a part of the equation anymore. Patton’s co-star Grant Gustin weighed in on the prospect of a “Flashverse” and while he’s flattered, he doesn’t see that name change happening in the near future. The Flash will carry on that legacy, but it will always be tied to the show that started it all.
Gustin commented on all these concerns during his interview with ComicBook.com during San Diego Comic-Con. The Flash briskly pushed away any talk of stepping into the exact same role, stating, “It stays the Arrowverse. It’s fair.”
The star could have just been saying the same sort of polite and personable comments that he’s known for. But, Gustin really means it and he wanted to snuff that fandom debate out before it got out of hand. Lest we forget, Barry Allen’s (re-)introduction to TV viewers came in an episode of Arrow. It seems the entire cast of The Flash wants to show some respect for the title that paved the way for all these others to run through. Stephen Amell even had a playful declaration that the “Flashverse” never be the title.
Arrow might have launched the CW superhero boom, but now all of these worlds and team are in jeopardy. Some have speculated that “Crisis on Infinite Earths” could take the Arrowverse from a sort of strained multiverse and unify Supergirl, The Flash, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman under one roof where everything happens on the same plane.
The Flash premieres on October 8th. Supergirl‘s fifth season will begin Sunday, October 6th at 9/8c on The CW. Arrow will premiere on October 15, 2019.
