12. Freedom Fighters: The Ray
Spun out of the Arrowverse’s 2018 crossover Crisis on Earth-X, Freedom Fighters: The Ray sees Russell Tovey reprise his role in an animated series that showcases some of the horrors on Earth-X. It also features some returning Arrowverse talent, including Supergirl‘s Melissa Benoist as Overgirl and The Flash‘s Carlos Valdes and Danielle Panabaker.
It’s much more serious on tone that you might think, which figures given the crossover that it’s based on, but it really works in highlighting why the dystopian Earth sends shivers down the spine of anyone who speaks of it. It maintains that tone throughout, balancing it well with the uplifting nature of Tovey’s titular hero and the Freedom Fighters.
11. Vixen
Another animated adventure set within the Arrowverse, Vixen ran for two seasons on CW Seed and introduced us to Mari McCabe. If you were familiar with the DC comics, you probably already knew that she had some cool superpowers that enabled her to mimic the abilities of the animal kingdom. If you weren’t familiar with the comics, well, this was your opportunity to meet the awesome-and-yet-underrated DC hero.
Vixen was a lot of fun, and a breath of fresh air compared to the more dramatic turns that some of the live-action Arrowverse shows had taken at the time. It was also led well by Megalyn Echikunwoke, who would go on to reprise the role in live-action in an episode of Arrow. And speaking of live-action, it was also pretty fun to see The Flash, Green Arrow, and Black Canary make cameo appearances (in which Grant Gustin, Stephen Amell, and Katie Cassidy reprised their roles).
The show ended up being more important to the Arrowverse lore than you might think due to Mari’s grandmother having an important role on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, but it was also just a lot of fun!