Arrow Question re the formation of the 'Arrowverse'

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Can anybody tell me, was the CW/DC shared universe planned right from the very start of Arrow? I know Supergirl originally aired on CBS so probably wasn't intended to be in the mix, but was the building of some sort of shared continuity with The Flash and then LoT the intention right from the start? Or did it just evolve as things went on?
 
Can anybody tell me, was the CW/DC shared universe planned right from the very start of Arrow? I know Supergirl originally aired on CBS so probably wasn't intended to be in the mix, but was the building of some sort of shared continuity with The Flash and then LoT the intention right from the start? Or did it just evolve as things went on?

It evolved as things as went on.
The backdoor pilots, the crossovers, the easter eggs came after making sure one show could gain enough of a viewership.
 
It evolved as things as went on.
The backdoor pilots, the crossovers, the easter eggs came after making sure one show could gain enough of a viewership.

Okay, thanks. So a different approach to say the MCU, where AFAIK things were mapped out from the beginning. Interesting.
 
I don't think there's decisive evidence about it, but I really think they shifted their whole approach mid-stream. The pilot for Arrow was shot in March of 2012. The Avengers was released in May of 2012, and even then there probably took some time for WB to shift gears enough to decide that Arrow should follow its lead. So what began as an attempt to emulate Batman Begins morphed into an attempt to emulate The Avengers, which explains why there's no magic and very low sci-fi in the first season and they gradually went further down the rabbit hole.


In particular, Lyla Michaels (Harbinger in the comics) was turned into an A.R.G.U.S. agent warning of threats from outside of Starling City, because that was the closest they could get to comic book Harbinger in a world without superpowers, aliens, etc.
 
Yeah it was a happy accident. I believe Berlanti has said that part of the reason why he did Arrow was because he wanted to do The Flash. So after Arrow was a hit he was given the go ahead and decided to introduce him through Arrow, going against everything they've been saying in S1. Of course 2 hits lead to 3...leading to 4...mostly because WB is lazy and has given Berlanti all the heroes.
 
I don't think there's decisive evidence about it, but I really think they shifted their whole approach mid-stream. The pilot for Arrow was shot in March of 2012. The Avengers was released in May of 2012, and even then there probably took some time for WB to shift gears enough to decide that Arrow should follow its lead. So what began as an attempt to emulate Batman Begins morphed into an attempt to emulate The Avengers, which explains why there's no magic and very low sci-fi in the first season and they gradually went further down the rabbit hole.

That's an interesting way of looking at it :up:

Yeah it was a happy accident. I believe Berlanti has said that part of the reason why he did Arrow was because he wanted to do The Flash. So after Arrow was a hit he was given the go ahead and decided to introduce him through Arrow, going against everything they've been saying in S1. Of course 2 hits lead to 3...leading to 4...mostly because WB is lazy and has given Berlanti all the heroes.

Is Berlanti popular with Arrow/Flash fans? Is he reckoned to have done a good job?
 
All the Berlanti shows have their flaws but they've also all done a lot right. Maybe no individual season of the Arrowverse is as good as Legion or Jessica Jones S1, but on the whole I think the Arrowverse is leagues better than other super hero television shows.

I certainly don't want to go back to Smallville, Birds of Prey, Lois and Clark, Swamp Thing the Series, etc for my DC shows.

They put a lot of characters and stories on screen that I never thought I'd see on television. For the most part they did a good job with casting and costumes. The effects generally look good.

The biggest issues are characters having inconsistent powers/abilities (Ollie's a hacker except when he's not; Barry can run through time but gets punched in the face by random thugs; Kara should be virtually invincible but struggles often; half the Legends inexplicably fight without their super powers or suits (Nate and Ray especially) and contrived drama about why person A is keeping secrets from person B.
 
They put a lot of characters and stories on screen that I never thought I'd see on television. For the most part they did a good job with casting and costumes. The effects generally look good.

I don't follow the CW shows closely (I just couldn't get into them) but some of the things that I have seen have impressed me. Someone bought me the DVD of the Invasion! crossover event and I enjoyed it. I'd rewatched Justice League a short while before and thought some of the effects in Invasion! were better than some of those in JL. And I completely agree that the CW has allowed characters on screen that I never thought I'd see. So congrats to them for that.
 
The biggest issues are characters having inconsistent powers/abilities (Ollie's a hacker except when he's not; Barry can run through time but gets punched in the face by random thugs; Kara should be virtually invincible but struggles often; half the Legends inexplicably fight without their super powers or suits (Nate and Ray especially) and contrived drama about why person A is keeping secrets from person B.
Couldn't have put this better if I tried, but I suppose they've got to keep the show interesting. If, for example they had Barry run back in time and change/fix something every time something went wrong, then we'd never have any consequences.
 
I don't think that Arrow could have been planned out that way. I mean, sure, the idea could have existed, but there would be no point in experimenting with that for the first season because season two is never guaranteed. At the time, they had been green-lit (hah) for Arrow and had no idea if there would be anything past that season. But then it continued and Flash came along later. Now before Flash came along, I'd find it hard to believe that there were any definite plans about expanding the universe, because once again, it's hard to think in those terms when you only have the go-ahead for one series and you're not really sure what's going to happen to it. But the moment they were given the green light for Flash, they obviously decided to make it all one universe.
 
It's interesting to see something like this that's truly 'evolved naturally', so to speak.
 

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