Jesse L. Martin steps down as series regular after season 8

The Flash is in the midst of its eighth season on The CW but the number of cast members who have been with the series since the beginning is dwindling. Deadline has reported that Jesse L. Martin, who plays CCPD detective Joseph “Joe” West and surrogate father to Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), will no longer be a series regular on The Flash.

Along with Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, and Danielle Panabaker, Jesse L. Martin was one of just four remaining original cast members of The Flash. However, Martin won’t be leaving the series behind entirely as he’s expected to appear in multiple episodes of the ninth season. The existing contracts of the original cast members expired at the end of the eighth season and Martin was offered the chance to star in The Irrational for NBC. The drama is based on bestselling author Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational. The show centers on Alec Baker, a “world-renowned professor of behavioral psychology with a unique insight into human nature who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, corporations and law enforcement. However, he meets his match in a female domestic terror suspect who turns his world upside down.” Jesse L. Martin will also produce the pilot, which will start shooting next month in Vancouver, which also happens to be where The Flash is filmed.

The Flash was renewed for a ninth season last month after star Grant Gustin inked a new deal. It’s been said that Gustin turned down a multi-year deal in favour of one lasting just a single year. This has led fans to believe that the ninth season of The Flash will likely be the last. As The Flash is now the longest-running Arrowverse series on The CW, it makes sense that the endgame is upon us.