With a cinematic universe and a separate TV universe under its belt, sometimes it gets really messy for DC Films and its parent company Warner Bros. studios to juggle between the two. While the studio claims the DCEU and the Arrowverse are their highest priority and treated equally, most of the times it is the Arrowverse that ends up facing the axe.
Suicide Squad is cut off
When Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad first debuted in Arrow, everyone believed it to be the start of a new era. Rumors were already afloat that John Diggle is being prepped for leading the Suicide Squad in its own planned spinoff show.
With the DCEU planning its own Suicide Squad movie then, those plans were effectively scrapped so as not to confuse the fans with two similar teams. Willa Holland expressed her disappointment as she learned about DC’s plans to shut down Suicide Squad in Arrow. Here’s what she said:
“We were about season two when they started telling us we had to start basically killing off the Suicide Squad that we were starting to build on our own. We were actually trying to build that on our own on the show, and I guess once DC found out they were going to be doing their own movie of it, we had to axe all of the characters before we even got to show them, which was a little annoying at first.”
Batman Name-Dropping is a risky affair
When Disney bought Fox Studios, it also brought along with it the TV rights to the most popular superhero on the planet. Batman’s TV rights belonged to Fox. With Disney now owning them, the existence of Batman in the Arrowverse was ultimately off the table.
Superman has already been featured in the Arrowverse, but Batman won’t ever be a part of it just by virtue of technicality. It is a tragedy that we will never see Caped crusader fighting alongside Team Flash, Team Arrow, Supergirl or Legends as he has been teased so many times now that fans’ expectations have been raised but alas all this for nothing. Maybe Stephen Amell will find a way out, he always does.
Deathstroke is off limits
Slade Wilson is one of the greatest villains of the Arrowverse. The season 2 will remain the best season of Arrow not because of Oliver Queen but Deathstroke who brought an entire army of Mira kuru soldiers into the Starling city to avenge the death of his girlfriend Shado for which he held Oliver responsible. His character has evolved from a murdering maniac out for revenge to a genuine anti-hero. Season 6 finally gave Deathstroke the farewell he deserved.
The reason for that was because with the DCEU planning his own version of Deathstroke, a TV version of the same character would have left fans scratching their heads.
Green Lantern is a No-Show
Hal Jordan has already been mentioned in The Flash. But his green loving alter ego has failed to make an appearance in any of the shows. The Green Lantern is basically a launch pad for taking the Arrowverse into space-based adventures. Also, Green Lantern has been teased several times in the Arrowverse that it is logical that he will be tapped for expanding the frontiers of the universe. CW’s Arrow showed Jordan written on pilot’s jersey and the name of the aviation company Ferris was also shown. Further, journalist Susan Williams from Coast city was featured who is actually the sister-in-law of Green Lantern in DC comics.
It will be a gamble comparing a project of that magnitude could bomb but it’s a risk worth taking. The DCEU has mothballed their plans for a Green Lantern movie. I do not see why the Arrowverse should do the same.
Superman’s minimal appearances
Tyler Hoechlin’s appearance as the Man of Steel has won the hearts and souls of many fans. But with National City facing a crisis as the Worldkiller goes on a rampage, what is stopping the Superman from giving a hand to the DEO and Super Girl? Why does not James Olsen aka Guardian press emergency button that Clark gave it to him in case it is super urgent?
Apparently, the studio is to be blamed for this. They have restricted the usage of Superman in the Arrowverse.
Wonder Woman will never make an appearance
In season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow, Zari drops Helen of Troy on an island sanctuary filled with warrior women. That island is Themiscira, the home of Wonder Woman.
But that is as far as the Arrowverse can tread into Amazon territory. Wonder Woman unsurprisingly will never be a part of The CW. She will be next seen in Wonder Woman 2 and DCEU’s Flashpoint movie.
Harley Quinn is benched indefinitely
Harley Quinn makes her debut in the Arrowverse in Season 2 of Arrow. She was one of the people imprisoned in an ARGUS cell. Although she never gets to be a full-fledged member of the Suicide Squad, outright deleting her presence from the show after such a grand entry did irk some fans.
Unlike the rest of the Squad, Harley was just benched. So it is still unclear if she will make a future appearance in the Arrowverse. On the other hand, DCEU’s Harley Quinn has been glorified and promoted like anything. In fact, a standalone movie of Joker and Harley Quinn is in the works.
There is no Justice League nor will there ever be
As long as WB keeps meddling with The CW’s plans, the Arrowverse is cursed. In the aftermath of the ‘Invasion!’ arc, the Hall of Justice becomes the Arrowverse heroes’ new base of operations. But it fails to make an appearance in the Crisis on Earth X crossover.
Even Cisco doesn’t bother naming their brand new HQ (something he is really good at). So it looks like as long as any name has ‘Justice’ in it, the Arrowverse cannot use it. It seems DC believes in playing safe and maintaining a good distance between TV and movie universes.
City Limits
The Flash’s home is Central City while the Green Arrow’s is Star City. Super Girl lives in National City but there are other cities that have also been mentioned. Gotham and Metropolis have also been referenced directly in the Arrowverse.
DC may have loosened the leash since Arrowverse’s inception on including other locations but there are several that still do not make the list. Atlantis, Coast City, Opal City are all some famous locations of DC Comics.
Partiality for The Flash
Considering the ironclad dos and don’ts that WB is so eager to dictate to The CW, one thing still manages to escape judgment – The Flash. Why were Deathstroke, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman excused from being part of The CW while The Flash is still going strong with three seasons and another ongoing under its belt?
Even ‘Flashpoint’, the award-winning storyline that will be the subject of the standalone DCEU Flash movie has already been explored in detail in The Show’s season 3. Why are there no restrictions on The Flash if the rest of the characters are made to face the guillotine? It just doesn’t make any sense!!
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