In 2012, the DC series Arrow laid the groundwork for what would later be called the Arrowverse, in which increasingly interconnected spin-offs formed an ever-expanding comic world. But after more than a decade, the Arrowverse seems to be slowly coming to an end.
In early 2020, “Arrow” itself stopped after eight seasons. The final episodes of “Supergirl” and “Black Lightning” then ran in 2021, followed in 2022 by the conclusions of “Legends Of Tomorrow” and “Batwoman”. And in 2023, we now face the farewell appearance of the first “Arrow” spin-off and longest running Arrowverse entry: “the flash‘ hangs his superhero costume on the wall after nine seasons. For the grand finale, however, those responsible again come up with a real hit worthy of a final. After all, what would the (presumed) end of the Arrowverse be without the Arrow itself?
Arrow’s comeback in “The Flash”
Yes, you read that right: such as the website, among other things reported, becomes an “arrow” star Stephen Amell returns for a guest appearance as Oliver Queen in the ninth and final season of The Flash — in the ninth episode of 13, which also features a reunion with Arrowverse fan favorites Wally West/Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale), John Diggle/Spartan (David Ramsey), and Dr. Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork (Sendhil Ramamurthy).
The latter shared a first little behind-the-scenes impression of the reunion between The Flash actor Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell with the words “When Barry calls, Oliver Answers” on Instagram:
Arrow’s comeback is all the more surprising given that the character died in the massive Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event just before Arrow’s finale – twice! To save the multiverse, he sacrificed himself not only as Oliver Queen, but again as the resurrected Spectre soon after.
How does Oliver Queen return in “The Flash”?
So it will be interesting to see how Oliver Queen’s appearance in The Flash is explained. Nothing is known about that yet. But the possibilities here are many, because thanks to popular narrative tricks like flashbacks, time travel, magic, or parallel worlds, no one in the Arrowverse is actually dead.
This has been demonstrated by numerous returnees in the past and was also noted once again by Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim right after the “Arrow” finale, who already left a back door wide open for an Oliver Queen comeback.
So it’s easy to bring back Oliver, or at least some version of him, without diminishing his emotional departure in Crisis On Infinite Earths and Arrow. That should also be in the interest of actor Stephen Amell, who is now starring in a new series starring “Heels,” and previously revealed he’d only consider another Arrow guest appearance if it really adds to the story.
When does season 9 of The Flash start?
It starts in the US ninth and final season of The Flash on February 8, 2023. It is not yet clear when it will be shown in Germany (where the eighth season only ended in November 2022).
However, this should not be the case again until six months later at the earliest. Parallel to the launch in the US, the new episodes will probably also be available again as VoDs from providers such as Amazon in the English original.
Is the Arrowverse really coming to an end?
It remains to be seen if the Arrowverse will actually retire with The Flash finale. The phasing out of all series that play on the so-called Earth Prime and not in parallel worlds undoubtedly points to thisespecially since that would certainly also fit well with the mammoth project of newly minted DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are currently in the process of creating a new overarching DC universe that spans both movies and series.
The “Superman & Lois” series, which also originally came from the Arrowverse, is still running. However, it was revealed here that it actually takes place on its own in a different universe and is therefore no longer really connected to the bigger picture.
However, the new Arrowverse series “Justice U” around the aforementioned John Diggle, which should tie in with “Arrow”, was not announced until early 2022. It is more than the question of whether this will really happen with all the current upheavals and new plans at DC.