It’s been almost 10 years since Arrow first aired on The CW and kickstarted the channel’s DC Comics television universe. Since then, the various shows that make up the so-called Arrowverse have released nearly 700 combined episodes. What started off as a single series with a relatively grounded premise—a masked vigilante who kills criminals involved in a conspiracy threatening his city—eventually gave rise to shows featuring metahumans, aliens, time travel, alternate universes, and magic. Yet, as we near the tenth anniversary of Arrow’s premiere, it appears as if the Arrowverse is all but over.
At its arguable height, the Arrowverse consisted of six separate yet interconnected series that eventually all took place in the same universe (it’s complicated). Now, following the cancellation of Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman earlier this year and the recent reveal that Superman & Lois takes place in an alternative universe separate from the Arrowverse’s main universe, The Flash is the only show from that shared universe that is still ongoing. However, there are rumors that the upcoming ninth season of The Flash will also be its last, and the show quite literally jumped the shark years ago. Moreover, several commentators have argued the Arrowverse has been dying a slow death for years, and the future of The CW itself is in question in light of the network canceling almost half a dozen shows this spring and plans for the network to be sold off. The Arrowverse may not be officially dead, but even the Lazarus Pit won’t be able to revive the franchise at this point.
Yet I come to praise the Arrowverse, not to bury it. Despite its faults, the Arrowverse was a highly ambitious endeavor that introduced viewers to concepts and forms of representation that have now become mainstream. As a rival to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), The CW’s DC series proved that interconnected stories taking place in the same universe(s) could work just as well on television as on the silver screen.
Well before Marvel’s Disney+ shows were even teased, the Arrowverse aired weekly comics-inspired series in which characters from one show could surprisingly pop in and out of another show. Over the last ten years, these series have spawned nine crossover events, including the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event that aired across five different shows. These crossover events may not have gotten the same fanfare as Marvel’s Avengers films, but these crossovers illustrated that event and team-up comics could be properly translated to television as well as film.
Similarly, well before films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made the concept of a multiverse accessible to general audiences, the Arrowverse introduced its own set of unlimited parallel universes. In 2015, the second season of The Flash revealed the existence of an alternate universe known as Earth-2 with doppelganger versions of established characters. From there, The Flash and its sister shows introduced dozens of parallel universes, including Supergirl’s Earth-38 and the unnamed alternate Earth in which Black Lightning originally takes place.
I say originally because the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover went on to destroy the franchise’s multiverse, create a new multiverse, and combine Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-38, and Black Lightning’s Earth into a single universe known as Earth-Prime. If that sounds convoluted, that’s because it is. But the fact that The CW could create such an elaborate multiversal sandbox is a testament to the ambition and scale of the franchise. This feat is even more amazing considering the crossover event also established Stargirl, Titans, Doom Patrol, Smallville, Adam West’s Batman, Tim Burton’s Batman, the DC Extended Universe, and a host of other shows and movies as separate universes within the pre- and/or post-Crisis multiverse.
By comparison, the MCU teased the existence of a multiverse in 2016’s Doctor Strange and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home but didn’t officially present its multiverse in a show or movie until 2021. So while multiversal doppelgangers of Team Flash and its enemies started to appear in 2015, Marvel took an additional six years to introduce variants and multiple versions of Peter Parker in Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, respectively. Debates about quality aside, the Arrowverse’s multiverse at the very least beat MCU’s multiverse to the punch.
The Arrowverse also sped past and ran circles around the MCU in regards to LGBTQIA+ representation. Whereas the MCU didn’t explicitly feature a superhero in a same-sex relationship until Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) in 2021’s Eternals, The CW’s DC series featured LGBTQIA+ characters from nearly the very beginning. Some of the most memorable queer heroes from the Arrowverse include Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Kate Kane / Batwoman I (Ruby Rose), Ryan Wilder / Batwoman II (Javicia Leslie), Ray Terrill / The Ray (Russell Tovey), and Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh). This level of LGBTQIA+ representation was previously unheard of in television or films based on comic books. The Arrowverse’s representation is even more significant given the roles that these characters played; rather than include them as villains or minor side characters, the shows across the Arrowverse made their queer heroes part of the main cast and integral to the plot.
Moreover, three of these characters (Sara Lance, Kate Kane, and Ryan Wilder) stand out as the lead heroes of their shows. In fact, Sara Lance was the first openly bisexual hero in the history of mainstream (i.e. Marvel or DC) superhero film or television when she made her return in the second season of Arrow. And that was not the only first achieved by the franchise. Supergirl later introduced the first transgender superhero on television when Nia Nal / Dreamer (Nicole Maines) debuted in the show’s fourth season. As the rights of trans individuals continue to be threatened, Nia Nal’s inclusion in the Arrowverse stands as a powerful reminder of the importance of representation. All the queer characters in this shared universe highlight television’s ability to increase visibility and promote acceptance of and pride in different gender identities and sexual orientations.
In addition to showcasing LGBTQIA+ characters, bringing attention to lesser-known characters overall was perhaps the Arrowverse’s biggest strength. While the likes of Superman and Batman eventually appeared in these shows, the majority of the Arrowverse’s heroes and villains were lower tier characters that were unknown to general audiences not familiar with the source comic books. The Flash (Grant Gustin) was likely the most recognizable hero in the Arrowverse until the introduction of Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), but even the Fastest Man Alive pales in notoriety compared to DC’s trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), and most people unfamiliar with the comics would likely struggle to identify The Flash’s alter ego.
Meanwhile, Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) would have been recognized by fans of Smallville, but most first-time viewers could be forgiven for confusing him with Batman with a bow. Likewise, Cara Danvers / Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Batwoman have historically been overshadowed by their male counterparts, such that both shows made the need to establish their identities and distinguish themselves from their predecessors central to their stories.
And the Legends of Tomorrow are such a ragtag group of little-known characters that the team is somehow even more obscure than the Guardians of the Galaxy were prior to 2014. None of the Legends may be household names at this point, but the fact that their show lasted seven seasons is truly astounding for such deep cut characters. That ability to elevate characters other than Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne is exactly what made the Arrowverse so impressive; given mostly bargain bin heroes from the DC Comics roster, The CW was able to create several popular, long-lasting series that made bold steps in storytelling and representation.
With Superman & Lois and Stargirl officially taking place in alternate universes separate from Earth-Prime and The Flash potentially entering its final season, the Arrowverse is all but finished. But I will fondly remember this franchise and its willingness to take risks. I will continue to praise its efforts to bring visibility to underrepresented groups. And I will never stop believing the Arrowverse’s most resounding message: we all can be heroes.
