Why the DC Universe shows were never supposed to cross over with the Arrowverse

DC Universe shows such as Titans, Doom Patrol and the upcoming Stargirl were produced with the proviso not to cross over with the Arrowverse.

Before the launch of the streaming service DC Universe in the fall of 2018, some were questioning whether shows like Titans or Doom Patrol would be connected to the Arrowverse. It turned out not to be the case and now it is clear as to why.

As revealed on Fake Nerd Podcast, shows under the DC Universe platform were produced with the condition to not follow any of the continuity that is happening within The CW (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl etc.)

Executive producer, Marc Guggenheim, one of the key players of the Arrowverse next to Greg Berlanti, explained that those productions were ever expected to connect to any of The CW shows.

However, fans who watched Crisis on Infinite Earths may know that Titans, Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing were retroactively connected to the Arrowverse when they were revealed to be on designated alternate universes. That said, what was shown was simply stock footage.

Guggenheim explained that mapping out these characters and slotting them into the Arrowverse was challenging. The EP and consulting producer of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow said on the podcast:

"“[This] is an Arrowverse event, it’s done on the Arrowverse shows, and when we were breaking the story, we were always trying to find the right balance between ‘OK, well, how many non-Arrowverse characters should we bring into this?”"

Marvel fans could argue “Why is it so difficult to significantly feature all of these characters in the same crossover?” After all, Marvel managed to maintain continuity between tie-in comics, MCU films and the shows?” The main issue here is the divisions between different media within DC.

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Warner Bros. Television employs different tactics to prevent confusion between their shows – hence why the DC Universe shows aren’t related to the Arrowverse ones. Explaining all of this would be akin to Marvel attempting to convince viewers mutants have been in the MCU all this time (when they haven’t been) – separate universes remain separate. Imagine trying to explain how both Titans’ Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) and Jason Todd (Curran Walters) became Robin without Kate Kane’s (Ruby Rose) knowledge in Batwoman?

Are you glad that the Arrowverse crossover found a way of incorporating the DC Universe shows? Let us know in the comments below!