The Inevitable Downfall Of The Arrowverse

I think the real issue with the arrowverse long term was just a severe lack of adaptation. Having 22 episode seasons every year across the shows that effectively operate the same without any big changes across said seasons just made the arrowverse bland after a while. Which is sad because most of the actors and starting seasons for these shows are good.

It really sucks how much the Arrowverse fell off. At one point I was super excited with each new episode (mainly Flash and Arrow) but then the shows became predictable, repetitive and hella goofy. The characters didn't grow and all these reject sidekicks started popping up with powers and saying "we are the Flash".

I’ll never forget The Flash season 1 with Harrison Wells and Arrow season 2 with Deathstroke. I felt like those 2 seasons were television masterpieces. They certainly made me excited when I watched them as a teenager.

I'll never forget how good The Flash seasons 1 to 3 were, those were prime superhero television and produced badass villains like Reverse Flash and Zoom

The CW-ish writing is what killed it. 22 episodes per season, giving supporting characters more screentime, less fights, characters taking decisions which doesn't go with their characters and taking break between the episodes. The audience became frustrated. Also with time the shows became cheaper - Heroes didn't used their powers in LoT, Batwoman was badly edited and choreographed and poor lighting, even the costumes looked like cosplay, and all the budget of Black Lightning went behind Nafeesa Williams' dresses (she wore 4 different outfits per episode on an average). So CW killed Arrowverse itself.

Here’s the thing about the Arrowverse: good or bad, it earned the shared universe moniker. You never saw a crossover between Barry, Kara, Sara or anyone else and felt like the creators were rushing stories. Something like Crisis actually has the time and buildup put into over the years.

Regarding Supergirl specifically, I think the biggest problem is that right from the start they completely skipped over the most interesting part about the character - survivor's guilt. Unlike her cousin, who grew up on Earth and has no memory of Krypton, Kara was raised on Krypton. She had friends, family a whole life, a whole world that was all taken away in an instant. She watched everyone and everything she'd ever known or love burn. Her world literally ended before her eyes and then to top it all off, the one reason she had for surviving and going on turned out to pointless as the child she was meant to protect was already grown up, had a life and was revered and had no need for her protection. The first season of Supergirl should have dealt with that. It should have been about her trying to come to terms with everything she's lost, with the inevitable resentment she would feel towards her cousin for not being a helpless child and not being able to fully understand her pain because he has no memory of the day Krypton died whereas for her it's all she can see when she closes her eyes. Kara is someone who should have serious PTSD and the story should have been about figuring out how to go on, how to live and find a home for herself on this strange primitive planet she finds herself on. Frankly she shouldn't have even put the suit on until the last episode of the first season because first she needs to figure out for herself if the world and its people are worth the effort that Clark puts in. Instead the show went past all of that and straight to Kara being a plucky mini-Clark. Supergirl could have been such a great show.

They did exactly what comics do: overcomplicated stuff that doesn't feel interesting. I watched a lot of the arrowverse and really enjoyed... For a time. Although I really love to see a final season of the the Legends, that show did it right by mocking the entire concept and not taking himself very serious.

The Arrowverse was an odd case for me. I never considered its shows to be bad, but there was nothing about them that made me clamour for more of them 🤔

small correction: the creators of superman and lois have confirmed that it doesn't, in fact, take place in the arrowverse. arrowverse superman just looks identical to s&l superman. In the season two finale, General Lane talks about how Superman is the "only superhero" on their earth, though he's seen other worlds that have multiple superheros (the arrowverse)

I think the biggest strength of the DC Legends series was that it did evolve. That cast was a complete revolving door. IIRC, Sara was literally the only character to last from the show's beginning to its end. It started as that kind of Arrowverse show where they tried to half-ass a brooding tone (my family was murdered by an unkillable man and I've become a fugitive to the time police, but you're all literally the suckiest options I could ask for to help me lol). It was a gradual change, but when the season 4 premiere happened and the cast watched in awe as a unicorn appeared, only to be reduced to a collective terrified ness as it gored and proceeded to eat a Woodstock attendee, I knew there was something legitimately good there.

CWs 24 episode format has gotten really old. They should compress every season to 8-10 episodes of just good content. That leaves more budget for CGI and more time for writers to come up with every episode

You have to admit it’s impressive this universe went on. I personally enjoy this universe far more than the films, for the stories it told, to the heroes it brought to the tv screen. I can understand about what is too much, but appreciate what I enjoyed. It sucks some of the shows did cancelled, but things do end after a while. Superman and Lois bring on another earth is nice, I’ll admit. I will miss this universe and the impact it has on many fans.

My biggest issue with the shows were the 'adaptations' of story arcs into ONE single episodes. Why couldn't they just have multiple episodes to adapt the story?

This is why Legends of Tomorrow was my favorite Arrowverse show. Each season was different. The cast was constantly evolving and changing. It was just a fun show and I’ll miss it

Of all of them, Legends of Tomorrow reinvented itself after season 3 to such a degree it was practically the same show in name only. It gradually distanced itself from the Arrowverse and by latest 3 seasons established itself as existing in a reality where any kind of story from any genre was possible and that main characters can easily be removed and replaced. That show could have gone on indefinitely.

The Arrowverse reached the same issues that people are finally starting to see in the MCU in a fraction of the time.

I blame them removing basically all the good/fun aspects of the leading hero characters and choking the fans with tons of bad CW romantic drama and whatnot. Felt like Oliver and Barry couldn’t do a single thing without their teams dictating their every move or they got all mad at them for not listening

I really liked watching the Flash when it first came out when I was a kid, I fell off at the third season but I remember greatly enjoying season 1 and 2 despite its flaws.

This is exactly where the MCU is headed.