The CW’s The Flash series finished its run after nine seasons this past week. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Eric Wallace and star Grant Gustin revealed some alternate endings the series had in mind.
What were the possible alternate endings to The Flash?
In the interview, Gustin said that initially, he was hoping the series would end in a way similar to that of an online theory he saw, where Barry would sacrifice himself to the Speed Force and become the lightning bolt that struck him.
“It was a fan theory I saw online about Barry sacrificing himself to the Speed Force and becoming the lightning bolt that struck him in this full circle moment,” Gustin said. “I thought it was cool, and I remember I talked to [showrunner Eric Wallace] about it and he was really set on Barry and Iris having a happy ending. He didn’t want to see Barry have a hero’s death the same way Oliver [Stephen Amell] did [on Arrow].”
After seeing this week’s finale, however, Gustin says he’s glad they ended up not going with what he wanted.
“It would’ve taken away from Oliver’s sacrifice if we also had to see Barry make that same sacrifice at the end of Flash, because Oliver sacrificed himself for Barry and for the other heroes to continue,” said Gustin. “Looking back on this, I’ll really appreciate that that’s how Eric wanted to finish things. After everything that we’ve all been through and how consistent Barry and Iris were as a couple, it finishes with them being happy and starting a family and Team Flash moving into the future together. I think it was the right decision and fans will enjoy that.”
As for Wallace, he also had his own ideas for how the show could end, but ultimately ended up not being able to implement them in time. Since there was 10th season in store for The Flash, Wallace said, he wanted to do more. But the showrunner did say the team got to “the emotional heart” of what they wanted to accomplish.
“I got the emotional heart of it, but because there was no season 10, there was just no time to set it up,” Wallace said. “The ending that I did have in mind had the Negative Forces involved. We didn’t get it quite as I wanted but the Negative Forces storyline would’ve been far, far bigger.”
