Currently, there are a number of TV shows based on DC Comics properties that are within a shared universe. What this means is that the events in these shows happen in the same world. Characters from one can appear in another and events in one can affect events in the others.
The first of these shows is Arrow, which features the adventures of Oliver Queen, the DC superhero known as Green Arrow. This show has featured a number of other DC heroes and villains, mainly Black Canary (Green Arrow's main love interest in the comics), Arsenal, The Atom, The Huntress, Katana, and a number of others.
At first, Arrow stayed away from showing characters with superhuman or magical abilities until it was decided to spin-off a new show featuring the Flash. Police scientist Barry Allen first made a handful of guest appearances on Arrow. The story picked up in the his own show, "The Flash". More DC characters have appeared here, such as Firestorm. Both shows have had cameos by characters from the other and a couple of full crossover story arcs that have started on The Flash one night and finished on Arrow the next night. Hawkman and Hawkwoman were recently introduced on one of these crossovers.
The recently cancelled Constantine would probably not have been considered part of the shared universe, but a recent guest appearance of the title character John Constantine has cemented this short-lived show as happening in the same world. Constantine also featured Jim Corrigan, who was destined to become the Spectre had the show continued, plus references to other mystical heroes such as Doctor Fate.
Coming up in January 2016 is "DC's Legends Of Tomorrow", which is a spin-off series from Arrow and The Flash, which features several characters from both. The team is put together by a time-traveller called Rip Hunter (based on the comics character Rip Hunter, Time Master), The Atom, Firestorm, White Canary (sister of Arrow's Black Canary), Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave to fight Vandal Savage, an immortal villain introduced in an Arrow/The Flash crossover.
This leaves the show "Supergirl". It is unclear whether this show is part of the shared universe or not. It appears on a different network - CBS, while the others are on the CW. CBS currently wants no connection to the other shows. However, it is made by the same producers who want to connect the shows, and there have been hints that a crossover might happen in the future. Another problem is that Superman's existence has been established as part of Supergirl's backstory, but the shared universe apparently did not have any super powered heroes before the events at the start of the Flash's series (at least as far as the general public is aware of), yet Superman has had a very public career as a superhero in the Supergirl universe.
This raises another question that many have about the DC shared TV universe - where are Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Shouldn't a DC universe have their biggest characters represented? Well, the answer to this lies in the way DC has been treating their movie and TV properties until very recently. Unlike Marvel, whose shared universe includes their TV shows and movies together ("Agents Of Shield" and "The Avengers", for example), DC has earmarked their big three for their movie division, making them off-limits for the TV division. So, Green Arrow is sort of a stand-in for Batman in the TV universe. This actually returns him to his roots, as the character was originally somewhat derivative of Batman. He was a millionaire that dressed up to fight crime, with a kid sidekick, an Arrow Cave, an Arrow Car, and a multitude of gadgets.
Similarly, the Flash has stood in for Superman. He is far above most other heroes in terms of raw power, but he's more down-to-earth, and even has a regular day job.
However, Supergirl might actually be able to meet the other heroes, as the idea of parallel Earths has been introduced (mainly in The Flash). Supergirl's could reside on one of these other Earths, and could possibly travel to the main DC TV universe. This also opens the possibility that the Superman from Supergirl's world might appear as well (if DC allows it to happen).
Hopefully, the DC TV universe will remain successful, and we will see more shows in the shared DC TV universe.
1 comment:
At least someone in my age bracket (I think) is keeping up with this stuff.
When we were younger the thought of superhero crossover shows was just a pipe dream.
Now the possibility exists with some of the current TV shows, be it Arrow or whatever.
Too bad in my 40s I'm not motivated to keep up with it.
Hopefully that's where you come in Derek!!!
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