The show that birthed the Arrowverse has one episode left before coming to an end. With the Arrow series finale fast approaching, what are we to call the Arrow-less Arrowverse?
Arrow debuted on The CW on October 10th, 2012. It was a time when a shared DC Universe didn’t exist outside of the comics. The film side of DC was still finding their most success with Batman and the conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. In the previous year, The CW had ended the very successful Smallville after 10 seasons and was looking to find that success again.
Instead of connecting the two series with Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen, Arrow producers wanted to, as Marc Guggenehim put it, “chart their own course with the character.” They cast Stephen Amell and started the series out as a grittier, realistic, take on the story. Arrow was an instant success and a full-season order was given to the show 12 days after the pilot aired.
As the second season was being developed, it was announced that The CW would be developing The Flash as a new series, with the character appearing in episodes of Arrow‘s second season before debuting in is own series in the fall of 2014.
The Arrowverse was born.