A while back, before Man of Steel came out, I wrote a column about how the new film and the CW series Arrow should be connected. That it could act as the first building block of the inevitable shared universe that Warner Brothers is so eager to achieve after the success of The Avengers and such.
This week during the TCA 2013 summer press tour, the network unveiled something that I can’t help but construe as confirmation that they’re headed in that direction. They’ll be introducing Barry Allen -- the Flash -- in Arrow Season 2 and the 20th episode of the season will serve as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off TV series.
Woah!
This is important for two reasons. One, it signifies that WB recognizes Arrow as the “in” to building a multi-property franchise. Two, it will act as the introduction of super powers on the show, which throughout Season 1, limited itself to “grounded” characters and tech. The grounded approach in particular, which executive producer Andrew Kreisberg confirmed would remain consistent in Flash, is the obvious link between these shows and Man of Steel.
Visually and conceptually, they are a near perfect match. All it would take is a mere mention of Metropolis and “aliens” and the connection is made. Perhaps the introduction of Flash will be the debut of superpowers on the show – the first time Ollie and friends have to deal with it -- but not the introduction of the concept of superpowers/other worlds in the show’s universe.
Of course, CW president Mark Pedowitz was coy about the whole thing, saying that while “there are no conflicts in any way, shape, or form” between the TV and movie universes, they "haven't had those discussions yet. That probably could happen, but they may exist in separate universes. We don't know yet." C’mon, Mark! You guys totally know!
What interests me even more is those rumors that were swirling around Comic-Con’s big Superman/Batman announcement – that a Flash film was planned for 2016 and Justice League for 2017. Though Superman/Batman was confirmed, concrete information on Flash and JLA remained elusive. Perhaps the announcement is being held until the new show is launched in 2014 and, hopefully, deemed a success.
If that’s the case, that still leaves plenty of time for the character to grow for a couple of years before he takes to the big screen, effectively leaving all of the origin stuff behind on the small screen and letting the movie build to a larger threat – not to mention the Justice League itself.
I’m in love with the idea of taking care of the origin stories on TV and then letting those characters shine on the big screen. This lets WB build their shared universe in a way that is not only effective but different from Marvel – something they need to be very aware of.
Of course, one issue with going this route could be a lack of star power. But as Pedowitz said at the press tour, “TV creates stars.” If WB plays their cards correctly, by the time Flash (or Wonder Woman or Green Arrow or any other characters with TV projects in various stages) hit the big screen, they’ll have earned a bit of star power.
More importantly, this could let superhero movies evolve a bit – instead of having to give us an origin story every time a new character gets a movie, maybe we can skip it and get right into the meat and potatoes of it all. That’s not to say origins are unimportant, but over a decade into the superhero movie phenomenon and I think we’ve had our fill of movies that hit the same beats with different players. Unlikely, but it’s nice to think about.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve eaten crow, but I’d be seriously shocked if we didn’t get a definitive answer to the “Will Arrow connect to Man of Steel?” question by the end of Season 2. Here’s hoping.
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. He has failed this city.
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