Every Arrowverse TV show, ranked according to IMDb

The CW's Arrowverse was the premier form of superhero entertainment on TV for close to a decade. It was widely responsible for the genre's return to the small screen after a number of the shows to air on the network achieved global popularity. Its lengthy run speaks for itself, and if it wasn't for the changing leaderships at both The CW and Warner Bros., there would still be an abundance of Arrowverse programming on the air.

Throughout the course of that 10-year run, The CW launched shows Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman, while also welcoming CBS' Supergirl into the fray. It also produced other DC TV shows, such as the Arrowverse-adjacent Superman and Lois, Gotham Knights, Naomi, and the second and third seasons of DC's Stargirl.

These shows were incredibly popular among comic book and TV fans, and those fans never had any problems voicing their opinions and feelings on each show. With that in mind, let's see how some of those opinions and feelings impacted each of the shows, as we rank them based on their IMDb score.

7. Batwoman

IMDb score: 3.6

Kicking things off, we have Batwoman. It's important to note that the show's ridiculously low score is hard to take seriously, as a number of female-led projects have received unnecessary review-bombing (often before they are even released). In Batwoman's case, a terrible first trailer that relied on cliché dialogue and some questionable creative decisions is also largely responsible for the show's low score here.

The truth is that the show started okay but it did improve a great deal throughout its run, particularly after the first season when Javicia Leslie stepped in to replace the departing Ruby Rose. Ryan Wilder was a more interesting lead than the show's version of Kate Kane, and when the third season focused solely on her, Batwoman flourished.

If the show's run just consisted of season 3, its score would be much higher (as it truly was one of the best seasons in the Arrowverse). That's one of the reasons why the lower score itself doesn't really carry any weight here. That said, as Batwoman came about at a time when the Arrowverse's popularity had decreased, the placement on the list is probably right (even if the score is very, very wrong).

6. Black Lightning

IMDb score: 6.1

Although Black Lightning didn't begin as an Arrowverse show, it was always a part of The CW's family of DC TV programming, so when it was welcomed into the fray after Crisis On Infinite Earths changed things, we were all happy about it.

The series stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce, a high school principal who is forced out of superhero retirement to protect his community of Freeland from those who wish to do it harm - particularly his longtime archenemy Tobias Whale.

Black Lightning had a bit of a mixed run, with it starting very well and ending pretty abruptly. There was a lot of criticism towards the show's final season, which felt like it didn't give it as satisfying a conclusion as possible. It especially paled in comparison to its third season, which is absolutely fantastic.

Honestly, Black Lightning deserved a far higher score than the one it received.

5. Supergirl

IMDb score: 6.2

Supergirl actually holds the record for the most-watched Arrowverse episode(s) of all time simply because its first season aired on CBS. It received huge fanfare back then, with higher production values, more expansive location shoots, and even Calista Flockhart as a regular cast member. Oh what good days those were.

While other elements of the show got more consistent with the move to CBS, it rarely felt as heroic, and eventually it lost a bit of its lustre. While its second and third seasons were strong, it fell off dramatically in seasons 5 and 6, with the storylines either being all over the place or just uninteresting. Its fourth season, however, was fantastic, and showcased what the show can do with important issue-led storytelling.

Supergirl's score is also a lot lower than it should be, and that is likely down to the lacklustre last two seasons. Nevertheless, the show was a beacon of light during a very dark era for superhero content, showing us that we can still enjoy the traditionally light-hearted comic book programming of yesteryear today. And Melissa Benoist's performance as the Girl of Steel is one of the greatest live-action portrayals of a DC hero the world has ever seen.

4. DC's Legends of Tomorrow

IMDb score: 6.8

Legends of Tomorrow was objectively one of the better-received Arrowverse shows in the later years of the DC TV shows' run, mostly because it had figured out what it wanted to be while the others had not (and balanced its large cast much better, too). With that in mind, its scoring of 6.8 on IMDb is a little surprising, because it deserves better than that. But it's also not entirely unexpected, either.

The show had a decent beginning but it didn't exactly find its footing as quickly as the other Arrowverse shows. When it did find its footing, it became more of a niche project that a lot of the mainstream DC fans weren't willing to give a chance - which is a real shame because sometimes the niche projects are better than the mainstream ones. In Legends of Tomorrow's case, this was certainly true in the back half of its run.

Legends may have been the little Arrowverse show that could, but it also had the most consistent run out of any of the Earth-Prime-set shows, entertaining us all for seven wonderful seasons. It didn't always get the love and attention it deserved, but it was always worthy of it.

3. Arrow

IMDb score: 7.5

The show that started it all for the Arrowverse, Arrow has a pretty strong score because it enjoyed a mostly solid run. The show changed the game for superhero television when it premiered in 2012, offering up a more grounded take on the Green Arrow character and taking some of its cues from The Dark Knight trilogy to make that happen. We didn't know then that it would lay the groundwork for a super-powered universe, but it did the dark and gritty approach to superheroes extremely well.

Arrow's score probably would have been much higher if it wasn't for its weaker seasons. While seasons 3 and 6 divided people, season 4 is widely regarded as a huge misstep for both the show and the Arrowverse, with the Oliver and Felicity melodrama resulting in people tuning out and the infamous death of the Black Canary alienating the show's core fanbase of comic book fans.

The show staged multiple major comebacks throughout its run, with seasons 5 and 8 holding up really well. If the show's whole run had been on this level (or the phenomenal level of seasons 1 and 2), then we could have been looking at the strongest Arrowverse show of them all.

2. The Flash

IMDb score: 7.5

The Flash having such a high rating on IMDb among the Arrowverse shows isn't surprising. It was easily the most popular of all of The CW's DC TV shows (and quite possibly the most popular superhero TV show of all time), with its first few seasons receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics. For a time there, nothing could touch The Flash in terms of popularity or its standard of writing.

As with every show, its standard of writing declined the longer that it went on, but the creative direction it took in seasons 7 through 9 is largely responsible for that decline. That, more than anything, is why the show's IMDb rating isn't anywhere near as high as it should be, because the negative response to those back three seasons, the questionable storylines, and some very poor episodes all resulted in the show struggling to its own finish line.

Nevertheless, it's nice to see that even its darker days weren't enough to block out the light of its glory days, because when The Flash was at its best, nothing else came close to it. And Grant Gustin's leading performance guided it through all of those highs and lows with grace.

1. Superman and Lois

IMDb score: 7.8

The fact that Superman and Lois is the most recent of the shows on this list (and has the least amount of seasons) and still managed to achieve the highest score is a testament to it. Yes, it might have retroactively divorced itself from the Arrowverse by setting itself on another Earth, but as it was originally envisioned and sold as part of the shared universe, we're including it here.

The show's high score on IMDb is impressive but it also isn't a surprise. Since Superman and Lois debuted on screens, it has received critical acclaim for its strong, powerful writing and its incredible comic-accurate performances. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch are quite possibly the greatest actors to ever play the Man of Steel and Lois Lane and the impeccable production values of the show are worthy of the big screen.

The show tried something different with the comic book genre by showcasing its title characters' lives as parents and its familial approach makes it appeal to a wide range of audiences. It's heartfelt, compelling, and damn good television that never lost its way, and its worthy of its place as the best-received Arrowverse offshoot.