Unreality Companion: Expanding the Arrowverse

In which I develop on the content of my weekly Unrealitymag.com article.

So after Gotham's shaky start, DC started its fall season in earnest with this week's premieres of The Flash and Arrow.  And with Constantine on the horizon for later this month, everything seems to be coming up Milhouse for DC.  And since I reviewed The Flash's first episode for Unreality this week, I thought that it would be worthwhile to talk about the expansion possibilities of the CW's shared DC universe.

Let me say right out of the gate that there is all of zero chance of either Gotham or Constantine crossing over with Arrow and The Flash in any way.  Gotham belongs to Fox, Constantine belongs to NBC and both Arrow and Flash belong to CW.  The only reason why the last two can be part of a shared universe at all is because they are both on the same network.  They aren't going to coordinate with another network just for a blip of a ratings bump, let alone two.  It took Family Guy 19 years and 13 seasons to cross over with The Simpsons, and both of those shows have way more mainstream appeal than any of the four DC shows out at the moment.

Specifically, I'm curious about what possibilities there are in expanding the already established CW shared universe with new CW series.  There's certainly a market for it.  Arrow has proven to be an unprecedented success and the CW is already testing the waters with Flash to see if people will tune in to both shows each week.

An in case you couldn't figure it out, yes: people will watch both.

The obvious spin-off would have something to do with Batman.  There's no question that Batman is far and away DC's most popular and marketable hero.  There have been seven live-action films featuring the caped crusader in my lifetime alone: 7 1/2 if you count the upcoming Batman vs Superman.  Additionally, he has been featured in a myriad of animated stand-alone and crossover series, as well as DC's surprisingly good straight-to-DVD animated movies.

There's even precedent for it within the nascent CW shared universe.  Arrow has featured a wide array of Batman villains, including Deadshot, Firefly and Huntress.  Nyssa Al Ghul , a prominent member of the League of Shadows, has played a prominent role on the series, and there have been whispers of her father, the immortal Ra'as Al Ghul, throughout season 2.  The Suicide Squad (who were also featured in this year's Batman: Assault on Arkham), a black ops team composed of convicts that perform high risk missions in exchange for reduced sentences, is another traditionally Batman-aligned set of antagonists that have had recurring appearances in Arrow.  Suicide Squad member and Joker love-interest Harley Quinn is another character that has been teased for the show.  With so many Batman villains, is a Dark Knight spin-off really out of the question?

In fact, why not have a full Suicide Squad spin-off?  It has a dynamic, rotating cast of characters that offer any number of dramatic possibilities and a built-in narrative reasoning to replace characters if their actor decides to move on to other projects.  Arrow has even established them in-universe to great effect.  The team has consistently proven to be popular and even headlines their own comic series.  Besides, I'm pretty sure we all want to see what Harley Quinn is capable of in the flesh.

Another potential spin-off could be Green Lantern, who has traditionally been paired with the Flash because of their similarly childish antics.  DC's even planning a team-up film featuring the two of them in 2017.  The two characters have always had a hilarious verbal back-and-forth and the possible film would only raise his already considerable A-list status.

If there is any potential for a cross-network television universe, it is with the announced Supergirl TV series.  Unlike DC's other two live-action series, some of the creative talent behind Arrow and The Flash are set to work on the series.  Specifically, writer-producer Greg Berlanti is said to be behind the project.  While still an incredible long-shot, it's at least possible.

Really, the entire roster of DC superheroes and teams are possibilities.  It all depends on how much the CW is willing to invest in growing their "Arrowverse."  Batman and Suicide Squad definitely would definitely make the most immediate sense, with everything else spiraling outward from there.  So what do you think?  What shows seem likely to branch off of Arrow?  Which ones would you be most interested in seeing?

If you liked what you read, please share this post on social media and subscribe to this blog in order to keep up with the latest posts.  Ask questions or share your thoughts in the comments section below.