Jesse L. Martin leaving The Flash as series regular for new pilot

Joe West

While this may not come as a big surprise to a lot of people out there, it is finally official: Jesse L. Martin is poised to leave The Flash as a series regular.

According to a new report coming in from Deadline, Martin is poised to star in the upcoming NBC pilot Irrational, one that will be filmed in Vancouver later this spring. (This is the same place where the CW shows films). It is based on the work of Dan Ariely, and Martin would play 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.”

So how did we get to Jesse taking on this role? The report notes that Martin was not approached about coming back full-time for season 9 of The Flash, though it’s already been confirmed that Grant Gustin will return and both Danielle Panabaker and Candice Patton are currently in negotiations. Martin (who plays Joe West) has been absent for stints of the show the past couple of years, and it’s become increasingly clear there isn’t as much story for the character anymore.

In the end, it does still like there are plans for Jesse to appear here and there in season 9 schedule permitting, so we wouldn’t look at this as a situation where the actor would be gone from the show for good — he just has the opportunity to do something different and we’re happy for him. He did a great job playing the role of Joe over time and he’s been in some ways ways the grounding force of The Flash, which can otherwise get extremely crazy.

Related Be sure to get some more news when it comes to The Flash right now

What do you think about Jesse L. Martin leaving The Flash, at least as a regular?

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