The CW’s plan to expand the DC Universe originally was supposed involve Barry Allen aka The Flash being introduced in their series Arrow for several episodes, with the last of these serving as a backdoor pilot that would eventually lead to a full series order of The Flash television series.

Now, those plans have been scrapped, but not because The CW doesn’t like what they see in the speedy superhero, but rather because they have full confidence in The Flash. The network will forgoing the backdoor pilot, giving the hero his own pilot instead. This move is based on the reactions the CW has been getting about the character.

According to Deadline, Barry Allen, played by Grant Gustin (Glee), will appear in episodes 8 and 9 of Arrow, but the character won’t don the red suit until The Flash standalone pilot episode. This iteration of the character is a “Central City assistant police forensics investigator who arrives in Starling to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a connection to a tragedy in his past,” and is described as “a comic book fanboy, who is obsessed with the Arrow.” He is “unaware that working with Oliver and Felicity to solve the crime has brought him right into the dangerous world of the vigilante.”

The creators want to establish that these characters exist within the same televised universe. So more crossover episodes are likely to happen. That being said, what will happen to the cinematic version of The Flash? Chances of Arrow crossing over into the same universe as Batman Vs. Superman seem slim, so why the creators of Arrow decided to pick The Flash is still unknown. We’ll just have to see what happens.

In the original plan, Allen would have been introduced in episodes 8 and 9, but his Flash persona would have made his first appearance in episode 20. Considering they are forgoing the backdoor pilot, it’s very unlikely we will see The Flash make another appearance in this season of Arrow.

Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and series scribe Geoff Johns will write the pilot, while David Nutter, who helmed the pilot for Arrow, directs The Flash pilot.

[Source: Deadline]