The Flash (CW) -- Spinoff of Arrow -- Coming this Fall
 

While Marvel and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS ) struggle with hardcore fans' desire to see more superheroics in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., DC Entertainment and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX ) have upgraded their plans for the Flash.

According to Deadline.com, DC Entertainment and the CW now plan a stand-alone pilot for a show starring Glee actor Grant Gustin in the title role. He was to be introduced in episodes 8 and 9 of Arrow as Central City police investigator Barry Allen and then reemerge as the Flash in episode 20, a backdoor pilot to a potential spinoff series.

Gustin's first two appearances in Arrow as Allen remain on the books. But his first appearance as the Flash will come in the pilot, a decision CW executives made after seeing cuts of him in action in Arrow. Both appearances were "very well received", Deadline reports. For his part, Arrow star Stephen Amell took to his Facebook News Feed to celebrate the news

The CW's decision to fund a stand-alone Flash pilot comes at an interesting time for both Disney and Warner. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken lumps for not being more like Marvel's The Avengers, which partly inspired and informed the show. Viewership has fallen with each successive episode even as the show remains a hit with men aged 18-49.

Arrow, meanwhile, is nailing the bull's-eye by introducing new characters with strong ties to the DC Comics universe, including Black Canary, Brother Blood, China White, and the Bronze Tiger. The latest episode, "Keep Your Enemies Closer," featured the assassin Deadshot and ranks as season two's most-watched. Arrow creators Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg seem bent on giving us as much comic book goodness as we can handle.

A Flash pilot could also hasten development of the DC Cinematic Universe and get us closer to seeing key characters such as Wonder Woman on the big screen. And of course, the more characters there are, the more likely it is we'll see a team-up film (i.e., The Justice League) following 2015's sequel to Man of Steel, which DC has taken to calling Batman vs. Superman. DC fans and Time Warner investors can only hope.

Do you agree? Or would you rather have seen the Flash emerge as a more direct spinoff of Arrow?

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...of-shield.aspx

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

But Marvel is doing the same thing w/ the Daredevil, Iron Fist, Power Man, Jessica Jones series on Netflix. I'm not sure what one has to do with the other.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

DC has always done much better than Marvel when it came to Television and Animation.

But with movies? Marvel is kicking DC's ass up and down the block for drill, without even breaking a sweat. :)

And I say that as a long-time, long-suffering DC fan :(

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

So rewrite for episode 20

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Yeah but it's The Flash. ;)

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

The point is that Agents of SHIELD is suffering from the fact that no recognizable Marvel superheros have appeared. Also, Marvel's deal is with Netfix, a subscription based service. Arrow and Flash will be on network television.

So no, Marvel is not doing "the same thing."

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

content is content. it doesn't matter where it airs anymore.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Same here. I'm a hardcore DC fanboy, and I would trade my soul for a DC Cinematic Universe that is as well done as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

:mad:

I like Flash and will probably watch it.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Agreed. I like the Marvel movies a lot more than the comics.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

The difference being there's no measurable way to compare a show on Netflix as opposed to SHIELD or Arrow that are broadcast on regular television. So for all we know, the audience for any of the new Marvel shows will be a small percentage of those who watch, and are constantly disappointed by, SHIELD.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

I liked Marvel in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but 90s Marvel peeved me off so much I dropped them completely and have never gone back. I don't regret the decision one bit when I hear about stuff like Sins Past or One More Day. I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I don't have any desire to ever get back into Marvel comics.

DC has done a lot of stupid stuff too, but never to the degree of peeving me off that much.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Overload.

I'm growing tired of superheroes.

I also used to crave a good zombie flick back in the late 90's. Look at where we are with that.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Pics released from 1st Arrow ep with Flash

http://www.comicbookresources.com/as...1384870552.jpg

http://www.comicbookresources.com/as...1384870527.jpg

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

agree 100%

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

what does that have to do with anything? the ratings are irrelevant. quality is relevant. if these shows are as good of quality as Arrow is now, then it doesn't matter where these Marvel shows air.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

I think it's a moot comparison unless DC actually uses these versions of Green Arrow and Flash in their Justice League film (or in related big screen DC content). Looking back at Smallville/Superman Returns they were treated as separate worlds. If they turn around and have someone else playing the 'film Flash', then these shows aren't in the shared continuity and will come off as the DC 'B-universe', regardless of quality.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

These shows aren't suppose to appear until 2015 (at least that's what I heard) and they may only be one-season shows. Unless Netflix raises the subscription prices or the shows end up on TV at some point, I don't see Netflix being able to fund four multi-seasoned shows.

My problem with Agents of SHIELD is, besides the Marvel name and a few references to other Marvel movies, it feels like a generic, sci-fi spy show. I would really like for more characters and villains from the comics to be introduced.

What did Marvel do in the 90s that pissed fans off so much? The only thing I really heard was they flooded the market with books (which I think they're kind of doing now).

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Oh lord don't get me started on that rant. I could be here all night. :lol:

Anyway, long story (relatively) short:

In the Spider-Man comics they have a storyline going called the Clone Saga. The Clone Saga started out decently enough, but they just dragged it on for far far too long. It went on for about two years in real time. Back then there were four main Spider-Man titles, so 4 monthly titles times 12 issues per year times 2 years equals almost 100 issues for just that one story.

It was just ridiculous how long they dragged that story out, and the reason they did so is because the marketing department told them to do so. The freaking marketing department had complete control basically. They dragged it out because it was initially selling extremely well, and they wanted to prolong it as long as possible.

Well that made the writing become a complete nonsensical mess because the writers had to keep changing their plans. In the end, the sales dropped like a rock, and the story ended with a whimper and not a bang.

Over on the X-Men side of things, the X-Men were becoming so convoluted you practically needed a PhD in X-Men to keep up. Even to this day, X-Men continuity is by far the worst in comic history. Even as big of a nerd as I am, I just roll my eyes at the thought of trying to get back into X-Men comics.

What really hurt Marvel the most was the early 90s was the peak of the speculator market where everyone was buying ten copies of every comic in the hopes they would be worth a fortune in the future. They were just catering to these speculators with endless gimmick after gimmick. At the same time, actual readers were getting pissed off and were leaving the industry. I certainly wasn't the only person that quit Marvel in the 90s. Many readers did. Then when the speculators finally left in the late 90s, there was nobody left. Marvel ended up nearly bankrupt in the late 90s.

DC did a lot of stupid stuff in the 90s too, but they were nowhere near as bad as Marvel was.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Taffer is correct, Marvel went far beyond DC in terms of speculator excess during the '90s. Outside of Superman's death storyline, DC never really went crazy with their line.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

So will this tie the TV universe to the movie universe? Will this be the same actor/character that shows up in an eventual justice league movie?

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

I've said for a while that Arrow was a better platform for a shared DC universe than MoS or TDK, and it's nice to see DC embracing that.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Don't forget the Knightfall/Knightquest/KnightsEnd trilogy.


I haven't seen that much of Arrow, but from what I have seen its more "grounded in reality" than Nolan's Batman. I just don't see how other more supernatural superheroes can fit with that.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Don't forget that in the 90s, Marvel also bought Heroes World Distribution to exclusively release their comics outside of Diamond (and Capital City Distribution). With 30 to 40% of their overall sales reduced, Diamond started to sign the rest of the comic publishers to exclusive deals with them. This killed Capital City and forced several smaller publishers to disappear over night.

Heroes World was horribly managed and ended up dying a slow and painful death that, along with the spectator bubble bursting, caused the closure of hundreds of comic shops. It was the near-collapse of the entire Comic Book Industry.

Marvel went in to bankruptcy soon after and Diamond was left as the industry's sole distributor.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

So essentially Rob Liefeld's to blame? ;)

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Arrow's already introduced a slew of DCU characters pretty seamlessly. I don't think there'd be a problem introducing more powerful characters.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Rob "Master of Human Anatomy" Liefeld


http://i41.tinypic.com/z5n8.jpg


What characters have been introduced? I know Deathstroke was, but he's street level too.

I watched the first five or six episodes of Arrow and didn't like how soap opera it was like.

I don't see how faster-than-light Flash or a space cop like Green Lantern or an Amazon warrior like Wonder Woman would fit in Arrow's universe.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Agreed -- I say spin-off the already announced Nightwing into a live-action Titans series on CW, with Speedy a recurring guest star. BAM. Instant demographics success story. You'll get all the 20-somethings who grew up with the Teen Titans cartoon, the old-time Marv Wolfman/George Perez fans, the DC faithful, and Betty Finklebaum. Throw in Raven, Starfire, Bea-- you know what, just throw in Raven and Starfire. Oh yeahhh... plus the Deathstroke connection? Why I'm moist just

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Stick with it. The first season is on Netflix. It's faaaaaaaaaantastic :up:

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Even though it wasn't directly produced by Marvel, Blade: The Series was not bad. The way he was such a dick to his loyal friend/assistant was hilarious.

After Shen, the friend, points out that Blade is teamed up with someone he previously tried to kill numerous times:

:lol:

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

I'll be more interested to see if the Flash pilot actually airs now, or if it will go the same way as the Aquaman pilot.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Interestingly enough, with Flash showing up on Arrow, unless I missed it, I guess we'll now see a true Metahuman for the first time on this show. Count Vertigo had no powers and even Black Canary used a gadget for her Sonic scream instead of her own natural powers.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Has anyone seen the Aquaman pilot? I think it's up on XBOX live.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

I've only seen the first season but Deadshot, Huntress, The Royal Flush Gang, and Speedy (well, Roy Harper) have made appearances.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

To be honest as nice as it would be to get a DC Cinematic Universe that is on par with Marvel's I actually think television is a better medium. To me a show has way more potential to tell more stories and isn't bogged down by having a limited amount of time to tell a story. It just seems like you can do way more with a show than with a series of films to me. The big problem is a lot of shows don't get the same budget as a blockbuster movie does.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Did you not read the initial post of this thread?

They may not be super well known major character names, but there certainly have been a lot of them, regardless.

In the first season, we got Deadshot, China White, Count Vertigo, The Huntress, The Royal Flush Gang, Merlyn, Shado, Firefly, Deathstoke (Slade Wilson), not to mention character names from the comics (Eddie Fyers, Billy Wintergreen, Ted Gaynor and The Blackhawks), even if they didn't always bear the same resemblance to their comic book counter parts.

This season, we've also had Black Canary, Bronze Tiger, The League Of Assassins, Professor Ivo, Amanda Waller, The Dollmaker, and the others coming up like The Flash who have been announced, as well as some not yet. That's not forgetting the fact that Moria Queen's lawyer is also Jean Loring (girlfriend of The Atom - Ray Palmer, in the comics), and that the ship of Ivo's they are on in the flashback sequences is called Amazo.

What prime time drama these days is not "soap opera" like?

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Yeah, I would love to have another live action Batman TV series. The last one was fifty years ago.

Batman has a huge rogues gallery and TV would be a better venue to explore his numerous rogues than the movies. Plus we could get season long adaptations of stories like Knightfall or No Man's Land that would never be possible in the movies.

The only real downside to that though is that network TV generally sucks. The last network show that I really enjoyed was 24. Premium cable has pretty much completely replaced network TV as my main TV viewing. About the only thing I still watch on networks is the news channels.

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Oh, I know all about the clone saga and the slew of 90s X-Men comics; I was just wondering if there was something else Marvel did that turned fans off them. Going off what some other posters mentioned, it sounds like Marvel had it's hands in some very bad decisions. Was anyone ever blamed for any of this? It sounds like this would be good material for a documentary. Did a lot of this happen before or after they were bought by Toy Biz?

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

That Jean Loring!? Whoa, I totally had overlooked her name on the show. Let's hope she doesn't have a mental breakdown anytime soon...

re: CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Do Stand-Alone Pilot Instead Of ‘Arrow’ Backdoor Pilot Episode
 

Two things:

1) The flipside of the Clone debacle is Age of Apocalypse, one of the best comic book epics of all time. Personally, for me it ranks third-best of any comic storyline I've read....While Batman's No Man's Land wasn't as bad as the Clone Saga, it's closer to clone than it is to AoA.

2) X-Men continuity mainly got dicked up in the 2000's, primarily due to the absolutely imbecilic Grant Morrison. His undue influence on all the titles through the abysmal New X-Men are responsible for most of the problems, but I have no PhD and understanding the book up to that point never seemed that tough to a school kid. Oh, and secondary mutations are horseshit. "Gambit's secondary mutation is charm." Uh, or it's called writing characters with personalities.