'Flash' is Coming to The CW!

Huge news for superhero fans: The CW announced at the Television Critics Association conference that a series based on DC Comics hero The Flash is being developed at the network--and it will spin out of the hit series 'Arrow'!

During the CW executive session, the network’s topper Mark Pedowitz confirmed that not only is the DC Comics character Barry Allen coming to television in his own series, but the character will be introduced in an episode of 'Arrow,' which will explain the origin of Allen's abilities. This is huge news for fans of 'Arrow,' as not only is Oliver Queen's world expanding, but it would seem that honest-to-goodness superpowers are coming to Starling City. Up to this point, 'Arrow' hasn't featured any supernatural elements on the show. 

The CW is very interested in expanding the cast of DC Universe characters on their network, with news that the Golden Age version of The Black Canary will be appearing on 'Arrow' in the second season (joining the popular heroine The Huntress who has recurred already). With 'Flash,' however, CW is expanding into an all-new ongoing show which will be able to build up the 'Arrow' universe as a collective one. 

'Flash' will be written by the men who created 'Arrow,' Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kriesberg. DC Entertainment’s Geoff Johns will also assist in creating 'Flash,' which is great news for comic book fans; Johns' storytelling is the stuff of legend and he has proven his love of DC Comics characters time and again. The CW has always had a relationship with DC Comics, following the conclusion of the mega-hit series 'Smallville' and an attempted 'Wonder Woman' pilot from last year. Now, the success of 'Arrow' (starring Stephen Amell) seems to have paved the way for a brand new approach, allowing DC characters to share a universe not unlike how Marvel's upcoming television series 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' shares a world with their feature films. 

This isn't the first time that the red-hooded hero has made his way to the small screen. 'The Flash' was adapted to a television series in 1990, which only ran for twenty-two episodes, yet garnered a cultish fan following. The 1990s version of the show also followed Barry Allen rather than any other incarnation of the character. 'Flash' will follow Barry Allen who, in the comics, is a forensic scientist who had a reputation for doing things slowly and meticulously before developing the power of super speed. 

Are you excited to hear that 'Flash' is coming to television? Are you already a fan of 'Arrow' and will you be eagerly awaiting a new superhero in Oliver Queen's world? 

The CW is seemingly all about the backdoor pilot spin-offs this year, with 'The Originals' spinning off of 'The Vampire Diaries' and news of a spin-off of 'Supernatural' breaking at the TCA conference as well.