Once upon a time, the Arrowverse shows were the most successful live-action story arcs the DC comics' universe had going for it. While Marvel Studios dominated the big screen and ruled the box office, Warner Bros/ DC had to make peace with the Arrowverse being the most critically accepted part of its many attempts at a modern-day competition with their archrival.
The Arrowverse (Arrow-universe) kicked off with the successful debut of Arrow in 2012. The Flash joined in 2014 and, over the years, many other shows and DC comic book characters have joined this ever-expanding multiverse - Supergirl, Black Lightning, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, to mention but a few. The Arrowverse was so successful at a point it was very difficult to see envision a future where these heroes didn't exist. Sadly, the first blow came in 2020, when Arrow, the show that started the whole thing, came to an end after eight (8) seasons. Black Lightning and Supergirl soon followed suit the next year 2021. And now, 2022 has seen an additional two shows in the Arrowverse come to an unceremonious end - Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow.
That's five shows gone in total.
All these cancellations leave only The Flash and Superman & Lois running. The former clearly because it's reported to be the most popular show on The CW at this time, so it's a no-brainer that if the cast and crew are still interested in continuing eight (8) seasons down the road, the network will be more than happy to have them. The latter, too, is pretty popular. It may be a show about Superman -a name once thought of being capable of selling almost anything- but the story it's telling is also very interesting, so that's something.
But, with five (5) out of seven (7) shows canceled, does this mean the Arrowverse is done?
Truly, I don't know. I'm not even sure Mark Pedowitz (the current CEO of The CW) even knows what the future holds for the Arrowverse, especially with all the speck of dust raised by the Discovery-WarnerMedia deal.
For those who don't know, the Discovery-WarnerMedia deal is a move by Discovery to acquire WarnerMedia from AT&T. Discovery is the parent of Discovery Plus, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet, Science Channel and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). WarnerMedia owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN, Warner Bros., DC Films, New Line Cinema, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Turner Sports, and Rooster Teeth, among other brands, and is part owner of the CW Network along with Paramount.
Although the merger is now completed, it's still unclear how much this will affect The CW, but from all indications, it's already shaking things up. However, there's side news of an impending sale of the TV network. The CW has never been directly profitable since it began operation in 2006. Most of its revenue has been from licensing the international rights to its hit shows Riverdale, The Flash, and Dynasty to the likes of Netflix.
Do you think it's finally time for the Arrowverse, in its entirety, to come to an end? Let me know in the comments.
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