The Arrowverse has had multiple big crossovers, the last of which, Crisis on Infinite Earths, literally re-shaped the way the verse, and the shows in it, looked going forward. With the show that started it all now ended, Supergirl ending this year and some of the longer-running shows in the same universe getting to closer to their own conclusions, it’s time for the Arrowverse to focus on smaller crossover events.
When the Arrowverse started, it was just Arrow. The Flash came along as sort of a spin-off of that, with Barry Allen getting his own back-door Pilot during season 2 of Arrow. Supergirl, which started on CBS, didn’t get to cross over with Arrow and The Flash right away, but DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the other of the longer-running shows in this universe, is basically made up of characters who showed up on Arrow and The Flash. When Supergirl moved to the CW, and more shows started joining the universe, it made sense for bigger crossovers to start happening, with bigger stakes. But that’s not how it all started.
First, there were smaller crossovers. Barry showed up in Star City to help Oliver, or Oliver made an appearance in National City to help Barry. Felicity paid a visit to Barry – and for a while, a relationship was even teased between them. Cisco and Caitlin were there to lend Team Arrow a hand. Sara Lance, whose entire family was part of Arrow for most of its run, got to come back to the show that made her into a fan favorite not once, but multiple times.
Those crossovers weren’t huge, and their ramifications weren’t world-changing, but they served to not just establish the characters, but create new, interesting dynamics. Moreover, they gave fans the same sense of interconnectedness that has made the MCU so successful. It was fun to know that, if Oliver had a problem, he could call on Barry, or that Kara and Barry were friends. And just like with big team-up superhero movies, it was believable that, every once in a while, that would escalate in a way that required all heroes, at the same time. It’s just not believable to see that happen yearly – particularly now that most of these superheroes exist on the same Earth.
Crisis on Infinite Earths was the last big Arrowverse crossover, the beginning of the end of Arrow, and the setup for some of the shows that were expected to carry the universe going forward, like Superman & Lois. Last season, because of the pandemic, there was no big – or small – Arrowverse crossover, even when some shows, like the aforementioned Superman & Lois, were just begging for a mention, at least. Was there a reason no one called Kara when Kryptonians started to take over people’s consciousness? One would think the only other known Kryptonian would be Lois’ first call when Clark got possessed by General Zod’s consciousness. Couldn’t they at least mention they couldn’t reach her?
That has always been the biggest issue with shared universes, and something easily fixable with smaller crossovers. Not everyone needs to reunite for every event on every show, but after establishing relationships, it’s hard to believe some characters don’t come to each other’s aid more often. Or, at the very least, the shows need to be better at mentioning characters that have already been established as being close to the characters from other shows. Opening up the universe to the type of crossovers the Arrowverse excelled at in the beginning, with only two or three characters, would really help with this issue.
Some of the crossover possibilities have already been set up. Supergirl might be ending, but that doesn’t mean Melissa Benoist cannot reprise her role as Kara for an episode or two during Superman & Lois’ season two. The golden standard of the Arrowverse when it comes to OTPs could pass the torch to the couple that’s meant to continue on setting the standard in Lois and Clark, by having one of the two couples visit the other. Or, even better, just have Lois and Iris get together for some good, old-fashioned journalism storyline. If there are two characters that are meant to be best friends, it’s Iris and Lois.
Crisis on Infinite Earths was a big event that changed many things, for many shows. Going forward, the entire DCTV universe on the CW will benefit from smaller crossover events, that feature two or three characters at most. This will allow all shows to continue to tell their own stories, without having to build their seasons around a shared crisis. Plus, new characters being thrown into the mix, different aspects of the characters people are already familiar with could be explored in ways that still make sense. It’s what makes the most sense going forward, and the thing that would benefit not just individual shows, but the shared universe the most.