The CW's Missed Opportunity: The Wasted Potential of the Arrowverse's Justice League

The Long-Awaited Assemble

The Arrowverse's Justice League failed to be the groundbreaking DC crossover team that The CW promised in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The CW's Arrowverse began as the straightforward story of Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen in Arrow, but after Arrow's success and its crossover episodes with the similarly popular The Flash, fans witnessed the birth of a new DC universe on network TV. The Arrowverse's growth accelerated with the premiere of Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl's integration into the franchise after debuting on CBS. With numerous characters constantly interacting with each other, it was only a matter of time until a team like the Justice League officially assembled on the small screen.

Justice league Arrowverse

2019 and 2020's multiversal Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event adapted the eponymous DC comics storyline to live-action by involving all Arrowverse characters in a battle to defend their reality from the Anti-Monitor. Along the way, characters from other DC universes became part of Arrowverse canon, including characters from Smallville, Doom Patrol, Titans, Lucifer, and Ezra Miller's DCEU Flash himself, as well as Stephen Amell returning as Oliver Queen. And as if that weren't enough, the CW's biggest crossover event concluded with the first official team-up of the Arrowverse's Justice League. However, the idea of future stories starring this version of the Justice League never came to fruition.

Grant Gustin as The Flash in the CW show next to the official poster

While the Arrowverse grew quickly after its first two successful shows, the idea of assembling a team that included the world's most important heroes took much longer than it should. The CW's Arrowverse began with Arrow in 2012 and The Flash in 2014, with Supergirl joining in 2016 alongside Legends of Tomorrow's premiere, Black Lightning debuting in 2018, and Batwoman releasing its first season in 2019. However, the Justice League only made their first appearance at the end of 2020's Crisis on Infinite Earths Part II, shortly before final seasons started to be announced. By the time the Arrowverse's heroes founded the Justice League, characters like Barry Allen, Supergirl, Superman, Martian Manhunter, and White Canary had already crossed paths with each other and with many other vigilantes and metahumans. Smaller Arrowverse superhero teams had been created, dissolved, and reassembled. Increasingly dangerous villains had threatened whole cities, the world, and reality itself. And yet, throughout all their active years as known superheroes, the characters who would eventually create the Justice League stuck to their close allies and only occasionally joined forces with other big-name heroes.

Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers in The CW's Supergirl Arrowverse Show

The Missed Opportunity

What's worse than the Arrowverse's lack of a Justice League for eight years may be the fact that the team first assembled after defeating the Anti-Monitor and saving the multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths. There was little keeping them from coming up with the idea of a Justice League for several years, yet they finally agreed to join forces when it was no longer a necessity. Once the Arrowverse had reached its highest point and The CW's DC shows began to face production difficulties and cancelations, the need for a Justice League team dropped even further. Now that the Arrowverse is officially over, the Justice League's first meeting in Crisis on Infinite Earths Part II remains the team's first and last on-screen appearance. Although Grant Gustin's Barry Allen was still active in the Arrowverse's Earth-Prime during 2023's The Flash season 9, the Justice League was nowhere to be seen. And while Tyler Hoechlin's Superman is the last character introduced in the Arrowverse to appear in a show with the release of 2024's Superman & Lois season 4, he's no longer the same version of the character that took part in the Justice League's creation.

The CW's Black Lightning Arrowverse Show Poster

The Arrowverse's short-lived Justice League wasn't entirely The CW's fault. After Crisis on Infinite Earths' ambitious premise paid off with critics and audiences, expectations for the Arrowverse were at an all-time high and the future seemed bright for the franchise, with plans for future crossovers, spinoffs, and new shows starting to take shape right away. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 prevented more crossover episodes from happening due to filming restrictions and schedule changes. The CW's shows that had begun development were promptly scrapped as well, and after the confirmation of a few renewals in 2021, 2022 brought the cancelation of long-standing Arrowverse shows like Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash. Given that shows like Black Lightning and Legends of Tomorrow had one season left to wrap up their stories, crossing over with other shows for Justice League missions became unlikely. On top of that, Batwoman lost Kate Kane when lead actor Ruby Rose departed after only one season, which made it even more difficult for her successor, Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder, to contact the Justice League and join their ranks.

Ruby Rose as Kate Kane in The CW's Batwoman Arrowverse Show

The Missed Potential

While Crisis on Infinite Earths itself is quite an impressive achievement, The CW could have continued to raise the bar with the Arrowverse's Justice League. Perhaps subsequent Justice League team-ups wouldn't have reached the same scope, but the interactions between the team's members and their shared battles against powerful supervillains could have been an unprecedented sight to behold on network TV. The Justice League's world-saving missions in the Arrowverse would have culminated the efforts of all previous live-action DC TV shows, both within The CW's franchise and outside of it. Whatever would have happened if the Arrowverse hadn't met the obstacles it did in 2020 is impossible to know for certain, but had the variables been in its favor, it's possible that the Arrowverse's Justice League would have continued to grow with more new members coming from established shows and newcomers joining its ranks after debuting in their own series. While Warner Bros. likely wouldn't have allowed Batman and Wonder Woman to appear, Superman & Lois could have also been part of the Arrowverse, and the Justice League would have been able to face iconic DC enemies like Doomsday alongside Tyler Hoechlin's Superman.

Melissa Benoist as Supergirl and the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Poster

While Crisis on Infinite Earths itself is quite an impressive achievement, The CW could have continued to raise the bar with the Arrowverse's Justice League. Perhaps subsequent Justice League team-ups wouldn't have reached the same scope, but the interactions between the team's members and their shared battles against powerful supervillains could have been an unprecedented sight to behold on network TV. The Justice League's world-saving missions in the Arrowverse would have culminated the efforts of all previous live-action DC TV shows, both within The CW's franchise and outside of it. Whatever would have happened if the Arrowverse hadn't met the obstacles it did in 2020 is impossible to know for certain, but had the variables been in its favor, it's possible that the Arrowverse's Justice League would have continued to grow with more new members coming from established shows and newcomers joining its ranks after debuting in their own series. While Warner Bros. likely wouldn't have allowed Batman and Wonder Woman to appear, Superman & Lois could have also been part of the Arrowverse, and the Justice League would have been able to face iconic DC enemies like Doomsday alongside Tyler Hoechlin's Superman.

Ruby Rose as Batwoman and the Arrowverse's Justice League