With the ending of the Arrow and the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths firmly past us I take a look DC's Arrowverse (not CWverse)
Since 2012 the Arrowverse has dominated superhero tv with it's ability to tell a great story in an expanded universe. It's crossovers, it's characters and it's storytelling have created a complex, character driven superhero world and as we reach 2021 the shows seem to only pick up more steam.
Now I know what you are saying, 580 episodes across all series (including animated shows that you do not specifically have to watch) is a lot, however for a series that combines multiple earths, time travelling, meta humans and more would you expect any less!
Without any further ado here are five reasons why you should be watching the Arrowverse
5
Arrow
At number ten on the list is the show Arrow, it would be easy to put all the shows as reasons to watch but for me, the show that started it all has to make this list. In 2012 superhero shows were very different, Smallville being the most successful show at the time. Then came Arrow with it's fantastic storytelling, immense fighting, complex villains and great twists to revolutionise superhero TV and birth the Arrowverse.
The show boasts eight seasons packed with fan favourite villains and great emotional storytelling, the focus on Oliver, Diggle and Felicity is a shining part of the show. The use of flashbacks were different to anything we had seen on tv at the time and the gritty tone of the show brought a Batman-esque feel while doing it's own thing.
The show brings the Arrowverse to a much more grittier real life tone, the shows characters are well written with great flaws that compliment their strengths expertly and tell a somewhat realistic hard hitting storyline that is pack with emotion from start to finish.
The shows strength lies with it's lead Stephan Amell who portrays Oliver superbly and constantly demonstrates his understanding of the character, the peak of this coming in the show's final season in what is, for me, some of the best acting on television.
With Arrow now finished it's legacy lives on and it still remains one of the best parts of the Arrowverse resonating in every season that has come since Arrows arrival in 2012.
4
It's Characters
I spoke about Oliver, Diggle and Felicity before but one of the strengths of the Arrowverse is it's characters and the relationship between them. Through all of the shows it's ability to make us care about the characters is the driving point of the world, Supergirl focuses on Kara and Alex, Legends has Sara and Ava and the Flash has Barry and Iris just to name a few.
It is a credit to both writers and actors, the universe as a whole would not exist and be as popular as it is without relatable characters that you care about. All of the shows combined reach roughly 30 seasons of television something no one has done before. This remains as one of the best qualities of the Arrowverse and one of the main reasons it's achieved as much as it has
3
Villains
After 32 seasons the Arrowverse has had many a villain, for this ranking I want to focus on Malcom Merlyn (Arrow), Deathstroke (Arrow), Reverse Flash (Flash), Alice (Batwoman), Damien Darhk (Legends) and Lex Luthor (Supergirl). The shows boast some amazing villains but these are the best of them.
The complex motives and sometimes identity's keeps the audience drawn in and desperate to see what dastardly goals they will seek to achieve. In the case of some villains (they ill remain nameless due to spoilers) they make you care for them before turning on our heroes!
This stems from the point I made about characters as a whole above but for the me villains is a different challenge all together. Even Marvel has struggled to find consistently find a great villain and to find some complex, compelling villains across five series is no easy feat.
Of course, not every Arrowverse villain has been great (Cicada, The Thinker, Vandal Savage to name a few) but the impact of villains such as Reverse Flash is undeniable
The collection of great writing and phenomenal acting gives the Arrowverse some of the best villains in a genre that has struggled to portray great villains for a long time.
2
Storytelling
The ability to shock a viewer in the days of the internet and with complex storytelling be something more regular is a hard thing to achieve. The Arrowverse takes this concept and throws it out the window throwing twist after twist at you constantly getting you to a point where you question every character on the shows motives.
Trying to make a great tv show based on a comic is difficult especially now that there is an increasing audience that are less interested in the comics is difficult. On the whole the Arrowverse does this season, Crisis and flashpoint are just two examples of bring excellent comic book stories to the screen.
The show also excels at long plots often worked across several seasons and sometimes the various shows, the crossovers are a testament to this. It takes a lot to get this right and there are points where the Arrowverse has not (Arrow season 4 springs to mind) but complex arcs such as Slade Wilsons journey into Deathstroke and Supergirl's identity exposure to Lena (admittedly a little drawn out but still packs a punch) are testament to this.
1
Crisis On Infinite Earths
I could have included all of the crossovers here but Crisis has to take centre stage due to the enormity of it. Uniting all of our heroes from Supergirl, Legends, Flash, Arrow, Black Lightening and Batwoman while still finding time to add cameos from nearly every other DC there has been is a testament to what Crisis achieved.
Uniting every DC property that has made it onto tv on film, adding Easter eggs galore and ranking the stakes up to maximum is only a few reasons why this crossover is so good. Fans waited for years for this, the crossover that changes everything sets the Arrowverse up for the future (while ending Arrow in the process) and it did everything and more finally giving DC the spotlight the comics deserve.
Of course, Crisis began a year before with the Elseworlds crossover and gave us a year of fantastic build up that is some of the best tv the Arrowverse has done and the decision to make Crisis the end of Arrow was fantastic and the send off the show deserved.
The DC version of infinity war definitely lived up to the hype and gave us 5 hours of amazing storytelling and emotion, it is truly one of the best superhero content ever and is worth making your way through all 20 series that precede it to get there!
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