6 Arrowverse Shows Ranked Worst To Best

The Arrowverse has no shortage of superhero content for the world to enjoy, though certain series therein are clearly superior to others. Beginning with Arrow, which premiered on the CW in 2012, the Arrowverse quickly expanded into multiple series, all based around popular characters from DC Comics. Over the course of its run, the Arrowverse timeline incorporated six fully canon series while also using the multiverse to connect to other shows, movies, and universes which ultimately remain non-canon to the Arrowverse. While some of these shows proved to be hits, others struggled to find an audience and ultimately fizzled out before reaching their full potential.

After a ten-year run, the Arrowverse ended with The Flash season 9, which marked the conclusion of the final canon series within the shared universe of DC heroes. While certain elements of the franchise live on, including Tyler Hoechlin’s eponymous hero in the alternate-universe series Superman and Lois, the end of The Flash ostensibly signals the end of the Arrowverse. While certain other DC-related CW shows have come and gone, including Gotham Knights and Naomi, there are only six fully canon shows to exist within the Arrowverse: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman.

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6 Batwoman Was Limited By A Shorter Run

Batwoman (2019-2022)

Batwoman was a series that made sense on paper, but utterly faltered in its execution. After several years of Arrowverse shows, the franchise intended to inject new energy into its stories by introducing the rich mythos of Batman and Gotham City, albeit without Bruce Wayne himself. Nevertheless, the first season did its best to set itself apart from other Arrowverse series while retaining that which made shows like Arrow and The Flash such great successes. However, lead actress Ruby Rose’s departure after season one doomed Batwoman to an early death and, though Javicia Leslie admirably stepped into her shoes, the show ultimately couldn’t sustain an audience thereafter.

Even without Rose’s exit after a single season, Batwoman struggled to justify its existence, continuously teasing an appearance from Batman without ever really following through. The constant allusions to Batman’s previous exploits in his crime-fighting career all sounded more interesting than the actual stories being told in Batwoman. Even worse, the series appears to have been unable to use most of the iconic comic characters associated with Gotham and usually resorted to introducing off-brand versions thereof. Limited in the characters it could use and suffering from behind-the-scenes complications, Batwoman was canceled after three seasons, becoming the shortest-lived Arrowverse series ever.

5 Black Lightning’s Place In The Arrowverse Was Complicated

Black Lightning (2018-2021)

Black Lightning was an unusual case in the Arrowverse, existing in its own timeline for several years before being grafted into the larger franchise through the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. Starring Cress Williams, Black Lightning ended after four seasons, with only the last two officially tying into the Arrowverse. While the series had plenty of positive elements, the most notable of which being its talented cast, Black Lightning failed to contribute to the Arrowverse in any meaningful way. The show’s cancelation shortly after Crisis severely limited any effects it could have on the larger franchise, making it strange that producers waited so long to make a crossover happen.

Of its own merit, Black Lightning was a generally solid show, though not terribly original in its story or premise. The series remained quite comfortable in its exploration of the retired hero trope, which Jefferson Pierce dutifully fulfills in almost every regard, while occasionally branching out to include the newly powered members of Black Lightning’s family. It is in the latter aspect that the series truly stood out, delivering an endearing dynamic in the Pierce family that ultimately carried its later seasons. Unfortunately, even the lovable nature of the Pierce family wasn’t enough to keep the series from gradually running out of steam in its final episodes.

4 Supergirl Became An Arrowverse Show Mid-Way Into Its Run

Supergirl (2015-2021)

Supergirl may not have started out as an Arrowverse series, originally taking place in another reality, but it was always closely connected to the franchise through various crossover events, leading to the convergence of their respective worlds during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event. The series quickly became one of the most important elements of the Arrowverse, exploring Metropolis and the various colorful characters therein. The early seasons of Supergirl, however, struggled in the shadow of the Superman mythos since DC had made most of Metropolis’s iconic characters unavailable for television appearances, forcing the writers to instead craft cheap imitations of iconic characters.

Despite its flaws, Supergirl was greatly bolstered by its cast, led by Melissa Benoist, which was diverse, dynamic, and deft throughout all six seasons of the series. Benoist herself proved to be a stellar addition to the Arrowverse, especially as a result of her undeniable chemistry with Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell, who portrayed the Flash and the Green Arrow, respectively. Despite the typical financial hindrances that make superhero television endeavors risky, Supergirl grew into its own over the years, though it was never able to deliver quite the same emotional impact as some of its sister series within the Arrowverse.

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3 Legends Of Tomorrow Brought Something Different To The Arrowverse

Legends of Tomorrow (2016-2022)

Legends of Tomorrow is a show that, for better or for worse, was constantly reinventing itself over the span of its seven-season run. Despite a rocky first few seasons, the time-travel series quickly began to embrace its turbulent storyline, leaning heavily into the wacky nature of its subject matter. Legends of Tomorrow generally became a catch-all for Arrowverse characters who no longer fit in their respective series, forming a truly inconsistent yet undeniably fun band of rogues for audiences to follow on their bizarre adventures. And, as is almost always the case with Arrowverse series, Legends of Tomorrow owes any measure of its success to its talented cast.

Although the show certainly didn’t appeal to everyone, it did garner a passionate following that has continued to campaign for its renewal long after Legends of Tomorrow‘s eighth season was canceled by the CW. Despite its almost incomprehensible plot and lack of care for time travel rules, Legends of Tomorrow truly did embrace all of its faults to deliver reliably entertaining episodes from week to week, which is enough to set it apart from certain other Arrowverse shows. In the end, the show was far from perfect, but certainly something worth admiring for the bold swings it took with both its storyline and its characters.

2 Arrow Birthed The Arrowverse

Arrow (2012-2020)

Arrow was the series that started it all and, though it was deeply flawed in many regards, it remains one of the best entries in the Arrowverse. Stephen Amell was pitch-perfect as Oliver Queen, a complicated and broken man yearning to right the wrongs of his family’s past, and was aided throughout the show’s eight-season run by a revolving door and equally talented actors and actresses who brought life to their characters. Arrow set the blueprint that all other Arrowverse shows would follow, and will forever get the credit for forging a successful shared television universe when even DC’s high-budget films were struggling.

Nearly every Arrowverse show pales in comparison to Arrow‘s first two seasons, which perfectly encapsulated everything that a superhero series should be. Exploring deeply personal storylines for its principal cast and keeping a firmly grounded tone, the early years of Arrow were nearly perfect. Although later seasons struggled under intense melodrama and a departure from the groundedness of early episodes, Arrow always managed to retain its charm, which kept the series running far longer than most other Arrowverse endeavors. While not the pinnacle of superhero television, Arrow did change the genre forever, opening the door to the many spinoffs and crossovers of the Arrowverse.

1 The Flash Was The Arrowverse’s Biggest Success

The Flash (2014-2023)

Arrow walked so that The Flash could run. The second series set within the Arrowverse elevated the entire franchise, introducing the concept of metahumans to what was previously a very grounded world. While this tonal shift could have easily derailed the entire Arrowverse just as it was beginning, The Flash kept a firm grasp of its characters’ humanity, delivering some of the most emotional moments of the entire franchise in its first few seasons. Led by Grant Gustin, whose every move perfectly embodies the character of Barry Allen, The Flash has the scale, scale, and charm to become an instant classic, elevating it above all other Arrowverse series.

In its ninth and final season, The Flash features multiple returning Arrowverse characters as a moratorium of sorts for the dying television franchise – and appropriately so. Without The Flash‘s expansion of the Arrowverse, the shared universe would never have reached the heights of Crisis on Infinite Earths, nor would it have achieved the great heart that carried its best years. Although The Flash took a severe dip in quality in its final seasons, it remains the most heartfelt, exciting, and enjoyable aspect of its shared universe, making its a fitting end to the Arrowverse as a whole.