At The CW executive panel this morning, network president Mark Pedowitz addressed the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer 2013 Press Tour gathering. Among the things he talked about was how the upcoming season of The CW’s hit series Arrow will feature an origin story for Barry Allen — better known to comic book fans as The Flash. If this storyline goes well with viewers, Pedowitz suggested there may be a Flash spinoff series.
“We plan to introduce a reoccurring character and an origin story of Dr. Barry Allen, who you now know is The Flash,” said Pedowitz. “… [W]e’re planning an origin story. We’ll see how it goes, and hopefully it will go well. We do want to expand upon the DC universe. We think they have rich characters that we can use, and we felt this was a very organic way to get there.”
Following Pedowitz’s comments about wanting to expand the DC universe on television, he was asked whether the two biggies in that universe — Superman and Batman — might find their ways to television, but Pedowitz explained that Warner Bros. is understandably protective of those two characters on the big screen (with a highly anticipated Superman-Batman meetup occurring in the sequel to Man of Steel).
“I always have thoughts about [reviving those franchises for television],” Pedowitz explained. “But the question goes to does the studio want to move them back to TV or keep them on the theatrical side? I have to listen to Warner Bros. and what they want to do with those characters that are iconic to them. So we’ll see what happens.”
There seem to be no such concerns with using The Flash, who is also being included in big-screen plans by DC.
“I’ve spoken to Diane Nelson, who runs DC Comics,” said Pedowtiz, “as well as Peter Roth [chief executive of Warner Bros. Television]. We’re good to go. [Arrow co-creator] Greg [Berlanti] has spoken to them. There’s no conflicts in any way, shape, or form.”
While The Flash looks to be on the fast track (no pun intended) at The CW, Pedowitz did have bad news for fans of another iconic DC Comics character when he acknowledged that the pilot for Amazon — a potential Wonder Woman series first mentioned several months back — has been put on hold.
“Amazon is on pause right now,” Pedowitz said. “The script isn’t quite where we want it. It’s an iconic DC character, and we are not going to put it on unless it works. And now, having the DC universe, the origins of Black Canary coming on this year, as well as potential origins of The Flash, it’s better to wait and get it right.”
So Wonder Woman’s struggles with reaching either the big screen or television in the modern era continue.
