Actor Grant Gustin recently shared his reflections on his life-changing role as Barry Allen/The Flash on the tenth anniversary of the Arrowverse show’s debut on The CW.
On October 7, 2014, The Flash premiered on The CW to critical acclaim and high viewership, ensuring DC fans that the Arrowverse was here to stay on the network. While The CW looks a lot different 10 years later, with Superman & Lois currently the only (and possibly last) DC series airing on the network, Gustin is still super thankful for having been able to play the Scarlet Speedster for close to a decade.
In a post on his Instagram Story, Gustin shared fan art from popular artist BossLogic, along with the caption, “10 years since the first Flash episode aired.. wild. Changed my life and forever connected me to a character that now means so much to me. Thank you to all the Flash fans that have showed me so much love and support over the last decade.”
Check out a screengrab of Gustin’s Instagram Story post below:
The Flash was the longest-running Arrowverse series
Gustin’s Barry Allen was originally introduced in a two-part episode of Arrow — The CW’s initially grounded take on the Green Arrow mythos. Following the episodes’ positive reception, The CW greenlit a pilot for The Flash, which was eventually ordered to series. Through its nine-season run on The CW, The Flash was the best-performing Arrowverse series, consistently pulling in high viewership (although ratings and critical reception began to diminish in its later seasons). The superhero drama series concluded in May 2023 after nine seasons and 184 episodes, making it the longest-running entry in the Arrowverse.
With the Arrowverse over and The Flash movie bombing in theaters last year, there are currently no confirmed projects in development at DC Studios featuring the Scarlet Speedster. The superhero was noticeably absent from the DC Universe’s initial lineup of movies and television series unveiled by James Gunn and Peter Safran in January 2023. However, with The Flash remaining one of DC’s more popular superheroes, the character will likely be introduced into the DCU, but when or where remains to be seen.
All nine seasons of The Flash are currently streaming on Netflix.
