Last summer, the CW announced plans to introduce Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) during “Arrow” Season 2 before featuring Allen’s transformation into The Flash in the 20th episode of the season; which would act as a backdoor pilot for a “Flash” spinoff series next fall.
However, those plans have apparently been changed. According to Deadline, “The Flash” will now be the subject of his own standalone pilot episode, which could indicate that the pilot will get an increased budget. But it’s not clear if any characters from “Arrow” will appear in “The Flash” pilot or what will happen in the 20th episode of “Arrow” Season 2 now that the original plans have been scrapped.
Gustin has already filmed his first two appearances (episodes 8 & 9) on “Arrow” as Barry Allen, an assistant forensics investigator for the Central City PD who comes to Starling City to help solve a series of unexplained robberies alongside Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).
“The Flash” pilot will retain the previously announced creative team, including writers Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg with David Nutter attached to direct the pilot. But if the “Flash” pilot is no longer a part of “Arrow” Season 2, then it may mean that we won’t see Barry Allen in costume this season. And in the event that “The Flash” doesn’t get ordered to series, we may not see it at all.
