THE FLASH Proposed as ARROW Spinoff for The CW

After 23 years, The Fastest Man Alive may be returning to television.

Deadline reported this morning that The CW is fast-tracking (of course they are) Flash, a drama series based on the DC Comics character from Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and director David Nutter.  Nutter, who directed the Arrow pilot, will also handle the Flash pilot from a script by Berlanti, Kreisberg and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns that will serve as a spinoff series from Arrow.

A feature film based on The Flash was expected to be announced at San Diego Comic Con and with the CW's Wonder Woman series Amazon being put "on pause," it's possible The Flash was reconsidered as a replacement TV series.

Later in the day, Deadline ran an update with additional information and quotes from Berlanti taken from a session promoting the new CW series The Tomorrow People.  He confirmed that Barry Allen will be a recurring character on Arrow this season, showing up around episode 8 or 9 and that casting will begin this week.  "Barry Allen’s story always has been a favorite of mine," Berlanti said, "as well as of Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns."  Johns, of course, wrote the Wally West Flash series for several years before restoring Wally's uncle Barry Allen as the Scarlet Speedster in The Flash: Rebirth.

Berlanti also remarked that there's a "wide belief" that The Flash works better as a television spinoff than other characters in the DC Universe.  "We wanted everyone to know about the show as that process commenced," said Berlanti.  "We think it fits well both in terms of (Arrow) and (as a stand-alone series)."

The previous Flash TV series aired on CBS from 1990-91, starring John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, Amanda Pays as Dr. Christina "Tina" McGee and Alex Desert as Julio Mendez.