Every Arrowverse Series Renewed At The CW
The Arrowverse is headed for a Crisis — but only in a narrative sense.
The CW announced that it has re-upped on all five of its series focused on DC Comics characters, three of which just wrapped up a season-ending crossover with the well-received Elseworlds event. Five additional series, including Riverdale and the seemingly immortal Supernatural, were given their renewal notices as well. (via Deadline)
Launched with the Stephen Amell starrer Arrow in 2012, the Arrowverse has grown into the most successful shared universe on the small screen, with each series' respective characters frequently popping up in the other shows; several interconnected storylines have also been featured, beginning with Flash vs. Arrow in 2014, which fielded a story arc common to multiple series for the first time. Subsequent crossovers have included Invasion! (which brought together Flash and Arrow with Legends of Tomorrow) and Crisis on Earth-X (which looped Supergirl in on the fun).
The conclusion of Elseworlds revealed the next big crossover event: Crisis on Infinite Earths, a title near and dear to the hearts of DC fans. The event will be inspired by the iconic 1985 DC Comics crossover of the same name, in which the Anti-Monitor — the evil counterpart of the reality-warping Monitor, featured in Elseworlds — embarks on a quest to destroy all the worlds of the multiverse.
Today's announcement might not have been a shock in light of these plans, but it still comes as welcome news. The five Arrowverse series coming back for another round next season are : Arrow (Season 8), The Flash (Season 6), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (Season 5), Supergirl (Season 4), and Black Lightning (Season 3). The CW's other series now primed for new seasons are Riverdale (Season 4), Charmed (Season 2), Legacies (Season 2), Dynasty (Season 3), and Supernatural (Season 15).
The move is indicative of the CW's efforts to expand its reach by building and maintaining a strong stable of original programming, and the shows of the Arrowverse are key to that endeavor. Network president Mark Pedowitz offered remarks at a recent presser which hinted that an aggressive strategy will be par for the course for the foreseeable future. "This season, we expanded our primetime schedule to six nights with the addition of Sunday — which has been an unqualified success for the network, our affiliates and our advertisers. In addition to growing our schedule across the week, we also continue to add more year-round programming," he said. "The early renewal of these signature CW series gives us a head start on laying out the 2019-2020 season, and this is just the beginning. These shows provide a strong foundation for our multi-platform programming strategy, and we look forward to building on this with even more returning and new shows."
While the news is great for Arrowverse fans, their joy may prove to be short-lived. Near the end of Elseworlds, Green Arrow made an offscreen pact with the Monitor which enabled him to change the course of destiny and ensure our heroes' victory... for a price. It's a mystery what that price might have been, but considering that Arrow has enjoyed the longest run of any of the series (and considering the noise that Amell has been making concerning his show's possible end), it's not out of the realm of possibility that Crisis on Infinite Earths could see the hero meet his demise. For that matter, fans have noted that nobody is really safe given the crossover's comic book source material, which was an absolute bloodbath.
But for now, the show will go on for the entirety of the Arrowverse when the CW's programming schedule resumes in the fall — oh, and it will be expanding yet further with the addition of the Ruby Rose-led Batwoman, which should also be in the mix with its first season assuming that the pilot (currently in production) rings enough bells with the CW's brass to get a series order. (Spoiler alert: there's virtually no way this won't happen.)
We'll have additional details on the latest seasons of the Arrowverse series as they become available.