The Most Legendary, Bad*ss Arrowverse Crossover Almost Didn’t Happen in Co-creator Greg Berlanti’s Original Plan: “It wasn’t our intention”

The Arrowverse has always been a place of different possibilities no matter how bizarre they may seem. Each hero had their own standing and story to tell. While some ended on a bittersweet note, others found their footing in one way or another. Each story went down its own path with either major or minor crossovers taking place from time to time.

Through them all, the collaborations between all the shows of the series gathered the most attention. When Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and even Black Lightening came together, the audiences had the most focus. One of the grandest crossovers of the Arrowverse, Crisis on Infinite Earths, which had every fan going berserk, almost didn’t happen at all.

Arrowverse Without an Expansion

When the Arrowverse first started out, it was just Stephen Amell and the cast of Arrow. The thought of expanding into different shows hadn’t even occurred and going beyond that into multiple crossovers was a fairy tale.Greg Berlanti, when speaking during the DC FanDome (via Screen Rant), confirmed that the idea wasn’t at all to go more into other shows than it was to just focus on Amell’s.

When we started out just with Arrow, eight – nine years ago now, it wasn’t our intention to replicate what everyone had done so brilliantly in comics. And it wasn’t until The Flash came along and we tried in the pilot of The Flash to put the two of them [Amell and Grant Gustin] on screen together.

Grant Gustin’s introduction to the series and then the success of The Flash changed it all for him. They saw a path that hadn’t been lit before. Although they planned on doing their own thing with Arrow, the first crossover with The Flash opened a floodgate of ideas that couldn’t stop flowing.

The moment those two shows merged together for a crossover episode, Berlanti felt something click within him, a thought of happiness and pure bliss.

Floodgates Opened for the Better?

Greg Berlanti talked about how when The Flash and Arrow’s worlds collided, a spark lit within everyone, and the adrenaline they felt made them immediately realize that an expansion was the right way to go. Neither the multiverse nor the Crisis on Infinite Earths saga was planned or intended, but by going with the flow, different shows were born within those vast universes.

I remember watching that first scene of the two of them together and thinking like, ‘Oh wow, this makes me feel like the DC books made me feel.’ Like one plus one equals three.

Crisis on Infinite Earths is the biggest crossover for the CW because of how many actors it featured from outside the franchise. The inclusion of Kevin Conroy, Ezra Miller, and Tom Welling made it even grander than it already was.

The scaling in which the crossover was made was clearly one that the CW hadn’t done before and it was well received. Despite the expansions, the response of Arrowverse shows hasn’t always been positive. The bizarre story angles and confusing arcs brought about dismay from fans. While the thought of expanding wasn’t bad, the execution wasn’t the best either.