The real reason Grant Gustin was ready to leave The Flash

The Flash had an incredible nine-season run, and star Grant Gustin has opened up about why it was finally time for him to move on from the series. 

It’s hard to imagine what the superhero TV world would look like without The Flash. But for fans of the beloved Arrowverse series, it might be even harder to imagine what the world is going to look like without it on the air.

The veteran series wrapped its nine season run on The CW on May 24, bringing an end to not just one of the most influential TV shows of the past decade but to the Arrowverse itself. It ends an era of television, and that’s an era that fans will look back on fondly.

It’s also an era that series star, Grant Gustin, will look back on fondly, but it’s one that he was ready to move on from.

Why Grant Gustin was ready for The Flash to end

Grant Gustin recently made an appearance at Phoenix Fan Fusion and, as reported by The Direct, he opened up about why he was ready for The Flash to end after nine seasons.

The actor shared that it was daunting to lead a show the caliber of The Flash when he was younger and so he tried not to think about it to keep his anxiety in check. He also revealed that his ever-evolving life eventually led him to the point where he was ready for the show to end, especially as he missed bedtimes for his daughter and didn’t feel that he wanted to ever do the show at “less than 100%”.

As ParksAndCons tweeted:

"“Gustin shared it was very overwhelming to be a 23-year-old that was leading that type of show. He tried to not think about it to keep the anxiety in check. As he grew older he realized with age, his world kept changing and knew it was time to wrap the show when he thought of all the bedtimes he was missing for his daughter. He didn’t want to ever do the show at less than 100%, so it was time.”"

Nine years is a long time to do a TV series, especially when you’re the lead, so it’s completely understandable that Gustin was ready to move on from The Flash. The earlier seasons ran for 23 episodes, so it’s easy to see how that could consume so much of your life and how that production schedule would get less manageable as your life changes.

The star has admitted before that he was ready to leave the show and he reportedly began signing single-year contracts should the time come when he wanted to leave. When he signed on for season 9, it was initially reported that the season would be capped at 15 episodes, but when Nexstar took over at The CW, it was only given a 13-episode final season.

This might have changed showrunner Eric Wallace’s plans for season 9, but it seems that Grant Gustin was ready to leave regardless of whether that season was going to be its last.

If you’re a fan of The Flash, listen to The CW Spiral Podcast for news and updates about the future of DCTV, the Arrowverse and more. Subscribe to their YouTube Channel here.