Arrow, the father of The CW’s super-successful DC TV shared universe, reaches the end of the road this year with its eighth and final season. Combine this with the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, which promises to have major repercussions for the future of the franchise, and fans may be worrying whether any other Arrowverse series will be axed after this current season.
Thankfully, we’ve now had it confirmed from the highest authority that the network currently has no plans to bring more of the Arrowverse shows to a close apart from Arrow. Speaking at the TCAs, The CW president Mark Pedowitz commented that “hopefully it will be a long time from now” until that has to be discussed. Making clear his faith in the bright future of the Arrowverse, he added:
“We believe in these franchises. This universe will continue for many many years.”
This news will come as something of a relief to fans. With Arrow ending and the franchise tackling a major event like “Crisis,” it seemed like the Arrowverse might be winding down. However, that’s clearly not the case.
What will the shape of the franchise look like with its parent series out the way, though? Well, The Flash is now the senior show, hitting its sixth season this year. Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow are on season 5, while Batwoman joins the ranks with her debut season this fall. Pedowitz also alluded today to the fact that the network is developing a fresh property for the 2020/21 season. So, it looks like the Arrowverse will just keep on expanding.
We do have to wonder, though, how much longer the older series can last. The Flash, after all, only has a few seasons left before it hits its eighth run. However, given that this is the network that gave us 10 seasons of Smallville and 15 of Supernatural, maybe we don’t have anything to worry about?