AN ESTABLISHED HISTORY OF CROSSOVERS

Since his debut in Arrow‘s second season, the Flash essentially created what we now call the Arrowverse, with the shared TV universe becoming a complex and interesting undertaking. Barry Allen’s ability to connect with the Speed Force and jump about through time and even across the multiverse allows for all kinds of marvelous character exchanges across parallel dimensions.

With four concurrently running DC series, CW has a great opportunity to explore DC’s rich collection of superheroes – both major and minor. Television, unlike film, is a long-form medium, capable of delving into the nuances of the characters. And while it’s highly unlikely that the cast of FOX’s Gotham would ever join up with the Arrowverse (due more to inter-network intellectual property rights, as well as temporal continuity issues), Marc Guggenheim and the DC TV producers do have a time machine at their disposal.

FOX and CBS probably aren’t capable of coming to a shared-universe arrangement (like Sony and Disney in the MCU), but that doesn’t necessarily negate a Gotham City presence in the Arrowverse. The characters portrayed Gotham are significantly younger than their standard-issue comic book selves. As such, the standard versions of DC heroes are probably fair game for use in the overall televised DCEU.

Could the Arrowverse Add More Major DC Superheroes?

The televised realm of the DC Extended Universe underwent some massive changes over the last year. The Greg Berlanti/Marc Guggenheim-constructed Arrowverse (also referred to as the Berlanti-verse) added the time-bending Legends of Tomorrow to their dockets. In addition, CBS superheroine flagship Supergirl launched and, in the wake of its first season, the producers announced that Kara Danvers and her friends were headed to The CW. Even though Supergirl hasn’t officially been added to the Arrowverse, her first season crossover with The Flash, coupled with her new home, are extremely suggestive of a presence in The CW’s shared realms.

As the production gets settled in Vancouver, BC and the next round of storylines are drafted, could some big names make their presence felt on the CW? The newly re-networked Supergirl already announced a major change (and major draw) for their second season: Superman. His presence isn’t technically that big a deal, since he stopped by on occasion during the first season, in text or shadow form. However, the announcement of a legitimate physical presence during the second season could herald some major changes for the televised corner of the DCEU.

Will DC Entertainment break out some of its biggest stars on TV alongside the DCEU? And if so, who will sign on?

To be continued

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter Joins Supergirl as The President

Co-created by Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash) and Ali Adler (No Ordinary Family), Supergirl season 1 premiered on CBS last year. Then, after plenty of speculation as to whether it would be connected to Berlanti’s DC Comics series on The CW, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) traveled to Kara Danvers’ (Melissa Benoist) home city by way of the multiverse confirming the characters could coexist. After season 1 concluded, it was unclear if the show would continue on CBS – that is, until the announcement that Supergirl would be moving to The CW for second season in Fall 2016.

As production on Supergirl’s sophomore outing gears up ahead of the show’s October premiere date, we’ve received plenty of casting news about the show, including Tyler Hoechlin joining as Clark Kent a.k.a. Supermanand a handful of other new characters. Now, we know a former TV superhero will also be joining the show in a presidential role.

THR is reporting that Lynda Carter, who may be most well known for her starring role in the 1970s television seriesWonder Woman as the titular superhero, has joined Supergirl season 2 in the recurring role of the United States President. She will first appear in the third episode of season 2, and is set to return for multiple episodes.

Earlier this year, Berlanti and Supergirl executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed that they already had Carter in mind to play the U.S. President on the show during season 1, but scheduling problems prevented it from happening. They did say at that time, “We’re going to do it, we’ll just do it next year.” So, it appears Berlanti and Kreisberg followed through on that statement and secured Carter for the recurring role in season 2.

Little is known about the role of Supergirl’s U.S. president at this time (even her name), but since production on season 2 is likely to begin soon, we may learn more in the coming weeks – perhaps at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month. However, it’s likely that Carter’s character will have something to do with how the government’s DEO agency operates in season 2. Last we saw, season 1 ended with Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum) taking over when it was discovered that J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) was impersonating Hank Henshaw.

That being said, it’s unclear at this time just how much Supergirl’s move to The CW will affect the show between its first and second seasons. Although the series has added a number of new cast members, including Carter’s presidential role, it has yet to be announced whether Calista Flockhart will be reprising her role as Kara’s mentor Cat Grant. So, with the shifting networks and the new superheroes joining the series, it’s difficult to say how Carter will fit into season 2 of Supergirl – though fans of DC Comics superheroes are sure to get a kick out of seeing TV’s Wonder Woman and Supergirl share the screen.

‘Supergirl’ Season 1 To Air Ahead Of Season 2 Premiere On The CW

Need to catch up on Season 1 of Supergirl? The CW said today it will broadcast the entire first season of the superhero drama series beginning Monday August 1, with two episodes each week until the new season of Supergirl premieres on October 10.

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT "ARROW" SEASON 5 (SO FAR) EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT "ARROW" SEASON 5 (SO FAR)

Production on "Arrow" Season 5 is already underway, and -- considering the big team shakeup in Season 4 -- a lot of change is coming to Star City. From new vigilantes to new villains to new costumes, "Arrow" promises viewers something of an overhaul when Season 5 rolls around, and CBR has broken down everything we know so far to prepare you for Oliver Queen's bold new world.

The Flash Season 3: Barry Saved His Mom! — What Happens Next?

“Mom” was the word as Season 2 of The CW’s The Flash came to a close. But was traveling back in time to save Nora a bit of a “parent trap” for Barry, who likely has significantly altered his fate? Is the new word, heading into Season 3, “Flashpoint”?

For the uninitiated — and I will simplify this greatly, while omitting a few spoilers —Flashpoint was a massive DC Comics library “reboot” facilitated by Barry’s trip back in time to save his mother. After doing so, he wakes up back in Central City, confused by the changes to the world that he gradually lays witness to. For one, Barry doesn’t have his powers, since there was no tragic past/wrongful incarceration of his dad to steer him in the direction of forensic science and thus land him in his lab with those chemicals at the time of the fateful lightning strike.

Also in Barry’s immediate orbit, in the absence of The Flash a different hero protected Central City — Citizen Cold. (Is that a reason why Legends of Tomorrow‘s Wentworth Miller was switched to a series regular “across all Greg Berlanti superhero shows”? Because they knew he’d be needed on The Flash?) On the flip side, Reverse-Flash/Eobard Thawne is alive and well, which could account for Tom Cavanagh maintaining his series regular status, even though Harry just returned home to Earth-Two.

In Flashpoint, Barry eventually decides he must undo what he undid. And yet he’s powerless. So, with help from Batman, he recreates the circumstances through which he became a speedster — extremely akin to the final episodes of The Flash‘s own Season 2, so if the TV show goes that route, it will be interesting to see how they avoid treading identical ground.

All of which is a 200-word way of saying that when The Flash Season 3 opens, Barry is very likely in for a huge shock (will he have even ever met the Wests?), and he may be powerless to make things right once he realizes all that went wrong. The easiest question to thus pose to you is: How long will The Flash take to serve up its spin on this major comic-book arc? Especially with the epic four-way crossover with Arrow, Legends and Supergirl on the calendar for December? (Unless Barry from the original timeline takes part in that event, though such a workaround would be super-confusing and dramatically unsatisfying.)

The Flash Season 3: Jesse Will Return — But to What Reality? And With Powers?

Although The Flash Season 2 ended with “Harry” Wells and his daughter returned home to Earth-Two, we will see Jesse again this fall. Many questions, of course, surround the nature of her Season 3 incarnation.

In addition to TV dad Tom Cavanagh continuing on as a series regular for Season 3 (but as whom?), 

After all, when a powered-down Barry last season attempted to recreate the “accident” that turned him into a speedster, the speed force wave that swept through S.T.A.R. Labs bowled over both Jesse and Wally — instantly sparking speculation that one or both of them were en route to meet their fleet-footed fate (as Jesse Quick and Kid Flash, respectively).

“When Jesse got hit, I was like ‘It’s happening! It’s happening!'” her portrayer effused. “There was the spark when she got out of the coma, but… it didn’t happen, and I was like, ‘No!’ I’m very excited [to play a speedster], and would love for it to happen early next season,” premiering Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Of course, the fact that the CW hit is tackling the comic books’ epic Flashpoint storyline — in which Barry’s saving of his mother’s life in the past spawns an alternate reality/future — means there are all kinds of ways we could see Jesse again, even though she is back on Earth-Two.

“With the whole Flashpoint, anything can happen, right? It’s literally open to any different kind of false reality,” Beane noted. “She could be Earth-One Jesse, she could be a speedster…. Who knows!”