The Flash: Carlos Valdes was heartbroken not to return for series finale

After nine years, The Flash has finally come to an end. The series finale of the Arrowverse show aired on The CW last night, and as with most finales, there were plenty of blasts from the past. However, there was one former member of Team Flash who was absent from The Flash series finale — Carlos Valdes.

Carlos Valdes played Cisco Ramon in the first seven seasons of The Flash before he exited the series. The actor told Entertainment Weekly that although he wanted to return for the finale, it just didn’t work out. “I did consider it,” Valdes said. “Honestly, there was no way to make it happen with regards to my schedule and just all the different creative ventures and life circumstances that I was trying to juggle at that time.” Valdes continued, “I couldn’t really make it work, which was really heartbreaking to me because I thought, if I decided to step away from the show, at the very least I have to be there for the finale to round this thing out and to really honor the full circle-ness of it. It was really heartbreaking to not be able to make it work.“

It’s been a few years since Carlos Valdes last played Cisco on The Flash, but the impact of the character has struck with him. “Playing Cisco, I had to really get in touch with a youthfulness and an optimism that it’s sometimes tough for me to get in touch with as a person, and it’s definitely something that I feel like we need in this time, in this day and age, in this climate,” Valdes said. “It’s a quality about him that I miss. It’s like when the cameras roll and I have a Cisco graphic tee on and I have those sneakers on and I can feel how long my hair is, when all of those components are in place, I feel that energy, that positivity, and that vivaciousness. And I still feel little vestiges of that from him. I definitely miss putting on that suit, so to speak.“

The Flash series finale also brings the Arrowverse to a close now that Superman & Lois is confirmed to take place in a different world. In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace remains hopeful that we haven’t seen the last of the Arrowverse. “I still am hopeful that the Arrowverse is not over,” Wallace said. “I’ve approached it as The Flash is over and I want to make the best Flash series finale as possible. On the other side, of course, there’s no Batwoman. There’s no Legends. There’s no Black Lightning. There’s no Arrow or Supergirl. It is very strange. All of the shows that were on Earth-Prime, they’re all going away. So what does that mean? I don’t know.“