Spoilers DC TV Arrow/Flash Universe Crossover Discussion

[dommecracy]

The longer the shows last the probability of a crossover will rise, eventually reaching 1.

For what it's worth, in my headcanon I'm treating Black Lightning as part of the multiverse from the start.

Titans too.

 

[DigificWriter]

When Supergirl was new, there were news items in which the executives denied that a crossover was on the table. You didn't believe those claims at the time -- I just went back and checked your posts from the period -- so why are you so quick to believe the exact same sort of claims about BL?

Nina Tassler and Greg Berlanti never once said that crossovers between Supergirl' Arrow, and The Flash weren't going to happen. What they said was that they were focused on launching Supergirl and allowing it to find an audience on its own rather than thinking about and focusing on its place in a larger shared universe, which is very different from the Akils' and Mark Pedowitz's statements regarding Black Lightning.

There was always interest on the part of both CBS, The CW, and Berlanti, Adler, Kreisberg, and others on eventually linking Supergirl to the Arrowverse, as demonstrated by comments that Berlanti himself had made prior to the TCAs where Nina Tassler's "We'll keep Supergirl to ourselves for a while" comment - which was not in any way the 'news' that it was made out to be - was made... comments that, BTW, also echoed Tassler's comment in that crossovers were not where the focus was at the time.

 

[Dick Whitman]

casting John Wesley Shipp as Henry Allen and Amanda Pays and Mark Hamill as Tina McGee and The Trickster, respectively, and just built from there.

with Vito D'Ambrosio as Bellows and Alex Desert as Julio Mendez that is 5 legacy castings from the 1990 series... a 6th will be joining that group when her episode airs in two weeks.

A seventh Joyce Hyser has said on Twitter she has been asked two different times but reluctantly had to turn them down. She was given only 1 week notice and both times in was during Thanksgiving break and she has kids. That fits with what Vito said about his first appearance he found out last minute too. Strange as big of fans the producers are you think they would give them more notice.

 

[Christopher]

Glad to hear they've sought out Joyce Hyser -- it means there's still hope. Although, given that two of the legacy-casting doppelgangers are dead now and one is in prison, I'm almost afraid to find out how the Earth-1 Megan Lockhart would end up.

 

[N-121973]

The reason I don't think Black Lightning will ever be integrated into the Arrowverse is that I see no evidence of there being any interest in doing so from anyone involved in the series.

With the other integrated Arrowverse shows - the 90s Flash and especially Constantine - there was plenty of evidence to back up there being an interest in making them part of the "shared narrative family".

Supergirl, for its part, was never NOT part of the Arrowverse, despite perceptions to the contrary, so there was no integration necessary.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/18/cw-superheroes-crossover-black-lightning-flash-arrow-legends-tomorrow/
Despite the title of this article from MAy last year, this passage was particularly caught my eye:
“We do not aim to do a five-way crossover,” Pedowitz said. “Black Lightning, at this time, is not part of the Arrowverse. It is a separate situation. But there will be a big fourth quarter crossover with all four of the shows that are on in the fall.”
The highlights are mine. But 'not at this time' is very different to 'never'. Admittedly the fact its shot in Atlanta rather than Vancouver would present logistical problems but as I think @Christopher pointed out, Supergirl was filmed in LA during its first season when they had a Flash crossover.

 

[DigificWriter]

Black Lightning was not designed to be part of the Arrowverse; Supergirl, for all of the separation that there was in terms of production location, was, and interest in eventually making that clear onscreen was publicly expressed prior to the series' debut.

 

[Christopher]

Black Lightning was not designed to be part of the Arrowverse; Supergirl, for all of the separation that there was in terms of production location, was, and interest in eventually making that clear onscreen was publicly expressed prior to the series' debut.

Despite your pretense of absolute certainty, you're just guessing. You don't know for a fact what will or won't happen in the future; none of us do. If the shows cross over, they cross over. If they don't, they don't. That's all any of us can really say. Sometimes the wisest thing anyone can say is "I just don't know."

 

[Dick Whitman]

Yeah, I never understand these long debates on this stuff. The truth is we will find out in time. So wait and see what happens. We do not even know if Black Lightning will get a 2nd season yet. Not a single episode has aired yet. What if it tanks in the ratings? Or what if it's a smash hit because it appeals to a different demographic than the other CW superhero shows? Either scenario could have a different effect on potential crossovers.

 

[dommecracy]

Black Lightning was not designed to be part of the Arrowverse

Not sure what you mean by this.
All we know so far is that the showrunners were given free reign to craft the world in which they set the show, but the Arrowverse isn't a single world, it's a multiverse. There's nothing stopping that world from crossing over with the other ones.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Black Lightning was not designed to be part of the Arrowverse; Supergirl, for all of the separation that there was in terms of production location, was, and interest in eventually making that clear onscreen was publicly expressed prior to the series' debut.

*cough*Constantine*cough*

 

[The Realist]

This is going to be a little vague, for which I apologize in advance, but I was browsing a copy of TV Guide in the supermarket checkout line, and as I recall, one of the Black Lightning producers was quoted as saying the show would "probably" not be linked to the Arrowverse "this season." It struck me at the time that the denials were getting less deny-ey. (Anybody with access to the current TV Guide feel free to check me on this.)

I also read a review that said that

Spoiler

the show does reference the existence of other (unnamed) superheroes in dialogue.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Sorry...I skipped a lot so I may have missed some discussion...


But overall I loved the crossover but a couple of things I did NOT like

- The one night stand with Alex & Sara... how long are they gonna milk Alex's sexual awkwardness? It does NOTcomeaross quirky like Felicitys social awkwardness
- And speaking of that those scenes robbed us of a much more emotionally impactful one -- White Canary meeting the new Black Canary... possibly giving her a "blessing" after perhaps awkwardness there.

- The "real" weddings-seemed very tacked on and last minute...and John Diggle is an ordained minister??? They just made that up right?

I still look forward to more crossovers (and Winter season's commercial is another great non-continuity one)