Stargirl is the latest live-action DC TV show to become part of The CW as an exclusive series, which has been a trend for a handful of Arrowverse shows in the past. While Arrow, which began in 2012, launched the larger universe, some of the shows that have become part of the franchise ended up joining after they premiered on other networks. Even though The CW is, out of the 5 broadcast platforms, known as the superhero/comic book channel, a few other networks have ended up doing DC TV series.
While most of Warner Bros. TV’s ongoing DC properties are primarily on The CW, streaming platforms like DC Universe and HBO Max have become destinations for DC shows. But as DC Universe hasn’t announced any more original series since Stargirl, The CW and HBO Max will likely serve as the primary outlets for Warner Bros. DC TV shows going forward. When the second half of the 2020-2021 TV season begins next year, The CW will have a breaking record of 7 DC TV shows airing throughout the year. From The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, Superman & Lois, and the second season of Stargirl, that’ll be the biggest Arrowverse season of all time.
Should Green Arrow and the Canaries be picked up to series, that’ll be 8 shows total — and while they’ll just be re-airing the first season of Swamp Thing this fall, that’s still another DC TV addition for The CW. But with Stargirl now leaving DC Universe to become an exclusive CW property, the Courtney Whitmore-led series is the latest Arrowverse show to become folded into the franchise. This is the history of The CW adding Arrowverse shows that began on other networks.
Smallville (Seasons 6-10)
While Arrow is recognized as the show to begin the ongoing modern age of DC TV series, Smallville paved the way: for 10 seasons, viewers followed the story of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) before he became Superman. However, the Superman prequel drama began in 2001 on The WB, which was a destination for a lot of genre and teen-driven shows. In their first seasons, Smallville was one of the flagship shows of The WB, and when The WB and UPN merged to become The CW, the DC drama was one of the shows that transitioned to the new network where it ran for another 5 seasons. Had it not been for Smallville, the Arrowverse may not have become a franchise — or at least not be where it currently is today. While they weren’t originally part of the Arrowverse, Crisis on Infinite Earths canonically made the Clark Kent drama part of the Multiverse as they’re set on Earth-167.
Supergirl (Season 2 – present)
Before Supergirl became part of the Arrowverse on a regular basis, the Girl of Steel drama actually began its journey on CBS. While CBS hadn’t done a comic book series since the ‘90s with John Wesley Shipp’s The Flash show, Supergirl not only became the network’s first superhero show in the modern age but the first female DC series since Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman. While the ratings were huge for Supergirl compared to all the ongoing comic book shows that were on the air at the time, the series wasn’t meeting CBS’ expectations, which is why the season 2 renewal took as long as it did. After having done a crossover with The Flash in the first season, it became clear that Supergirl belonged on The CW with the rest of the Arrowverse, which is why Kara Danvers switched networks for season 2. Despite being set on Earth-38 for several seasons, Supergirl’s world merged with the other heroes thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Black Lightning
While Black Lightning has been on The CW from the beginning, the series was initially not developed by the network. In fall 2016, the series was at first announced to be in the works from Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil, along with Arrowverse’s Greg Berlanti. It didn’t take long before Fox ordered a pilot, which indicated that it was most likely going to be happening. But in 2017, the network ended up passing on Black Lightning as they felt the comic book line-up on their slate was already crowded with Gotham, Lucifer, and the arrival of X-Men drama The Gifted. That spring, The CW picked up the series. While they were initially outside the Arrowverse, Black Lightning officially became part of the Arrowverse this year through Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Stargirl
The fourth original live-action show that came out of DC Universe was Stargirl. The teen drama came from DC writer and executive producer Geoff Johns. While it was originally going to be exclusive to the DC streaming service, a deal was made between DC Universe and The CW ahead of Stargirl’s premiere to air it on both platforms. After several delays and pushbacks, the DC teen series officially premiered this summer, and while DC Universe doesn’t release numbers, Stargirl has been performing well on The CW. Even before the series premiere, the Arrowverse made the show canonically part of the new Multiverse as Stargirl is set on a revamped Earth-2 that was previously destroyed in the Arrow season 8 premiere. In July 2020, Warner Bros. TV announced that not only would Stargirl be back for season 2, but it’d be leaving DC Universe to become a fully-fledged CW series.
DC Characters From Other Networks
While The CW has taken on a lot of shows that began elsewhere, they’ve also brought on characters that originally had their own series that for various reasons got canceled. Even though Matt Ryan’s John Constantine is a major fan-favorite in the franchise, the Hellblazer had his own Constantine series that only lasted for a single season on NBC. Despite troubling ratings, Ryan’s portrayal of the DC character was so well received that it was too soon to see him leave the small screen. That’s why the Arrowverse opened its doors for him in Arrow season 4, which originally was meant to be a one-and-off deal. Because of Constantine’s popularity, he returned to the franchise in the third season of Legends of Tomorrow and has been a regular character ever since. While his show never got revived, Ryan’s interpretation had a limited animated series Constantine: City of Demons on CW Seed, even though it was set in another universe.
Despite still being at Netflix at the time, Lucifer also became part of the Arrowverse Multiverse as Tom Ellis cameoed in Crisis on Infinite Earths when Constantine went to Earth-666. Additionally, there is the case of Shipp’s version of the Scarlet Speedster from Earth-90. While his The Flash series never got a second season after CBS canceled, the character ended up migrating to the Arrowverse when Shipp’s Barry Allen emerged in the Elseworlds crossover. Thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths, The CW was able to give the CBS version of the fastest man alive the “series finale” he never got as Barry sacrificed himself to help stop the Anti-Monitor. Thanks to The CW, the Arrowverse has been able to grow by either taking on shows from other networks or let characters migrate from other places, which is why Greg Berlanti’s DC TV universe is as rich as it is today.
