Summary
- Arrow and Flash were the ultimate odd but lovable duo in the Arrowverse, showcasing their unique and complementary friendship.
- Villains took a back seat in crossovers, as Barry and Oliver’s team-ups brought comedic and heartfelt moments to the forefront.
- Superman & Lois missed out on the fun crossovers, but their absence highlighted the unique bond between Arrow and Flash.
Love it or hate it, the Arrowverse is officially gone now that Superman & Lois has come to an end. And now that it’s gone, this seems like the perfect time to remember just what DC Comics fans who wanted to see their favorite heroes appear on the small screen got in the Arrowverse. Superman & Lois might have been the last well-known characters to appear on The CW, but they were hardly alone. When talking about the Arrowverse, there really were a whole host of heroes that appeared on the network.
Depending on what show someone watched, fans were going to have a wide variety of favorites. There was the Legends of Tomorrow which became a fan favorite when it hit the CW mainly because it was so different than the other programs. While there were some superpowered people on the show, the focus of the program was time travel. There was also Supergirl, which somewhat like Superman & Lois, offered up its own version of the heroine and her friends. However, when it came to the perfect pairing of characters from the Arrowverse, there was no more fun and lovable duo than the odd couple that was Ollie Queen from Arrow and Barry Allen from Flash.
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Flash And Green Arrow’s Friendship Always Shone Through
The biggest reason why Arrow and Flash were so popular at, for what was quite a while, the same time, is because the titular characters were so very different. In a lot of ways, Ollie Queen’s Arrow was supposed to be The CW’s Batman. The network didn’t have the right to so much as mention the character so he was a billionaire playboy and crimefighter. And he became a crimefighter through some truly dark indoctrination. He was very serious, he largely only saw the worst in people and he was slow to trust anyone.
If Oliver Queen was the dark avenger of the Arrowverse, then Barry Allen’s Flash was this universe’s Superman (another character that couldn’t even be alluded to at the beginning these shows.) Barry was happy and go-lucky, at least compared to Ollie. While he could get serious and even angry when he needed to, he was a character that saw the good in everyone. And he never wanted to kill, would go out of his way to do it, whereas The Arrow in fact started out killing and had to be talked out of taking lives when he was fighting crime.
Back when there were multiple shows as part of the Arrowverse, crossovers were the norm. Arrow and Flash often ran across each other. They often teamed up and every time they did, the two were very obviously good friends. Even if Ollie didn’t always want to admit they were friends. The pair seemed to know that they complemented each other well. And eventually, it was more a brotherhood than a friendship. That allowed people to get what they wanted from the two heroes at the same time.
The Villains Always Took A Back Seat
Sure, when the two characters were in their own shows, the bad guys were formidable and interesting, but when Barry and Ollie were on the screen together, the bad guys were always an afterthought. This was evident from the very first crossover.
Because the two characters were so different, the crossovers allowed unique blend of comedic and heartfelt moments, particularly between Barry and Oliver, that became a hallmark of future team-ups. The actors, particularly Flash’s Grant Gustin and Arrow’s Stephen Amell, brilliantly shift their performances between these scenes. It’s partly why the friendship between the two works so well. Oliver and Barry will always show up for each other, whether in a big crossover or the odd cameo in each other’s series. The sheer volume of storytelling over these many episodes allowed the storytellers to evolve this partnership over time.
When they were on the screen, the villains were always suddenly pretty easy to beat. And that wasn’t a failing of the shows or the writing. It showed that Queen and Allen were really great teammates, even if they only teamed up a couple of times a year at the most. And when it was time for Amell to leave the Arrowverse, the way he did so was heartwrenching and complicated and evoked emotion, even if the Arrowverse writing had started to slip a bit at that point.
Superman & Lois Was Cheated Out Of These Kinds of Crossovers
Eventually, Batwoman and Superman did join the Arrowverse, though it was near the end of that particular franchise’s run. And unfortunately, by the time Superman & Lois really found their footing, the Arrowverse was already on its last legs.
To some degree, the final show was cheated out of the crossovers that made so many of the other programs on The CW so fun. But keeping those crossovers away from the final show also allowed the relationship that Barry and Ollie had unique in this lineup of programs the network eventually aired. Now that they’re all gone, it’s worth watching them again just to see the perfect Arrowverse pairing.
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