The CW was once the place to be for TV superhero action thanks to the Arrowverse, comprised of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman at its height. The shared superhero universe ended earlier this year when The Flash finished its run back in May. Unlike Supergirl, Legends, and Batwoman, The Flash team was able to plan ahead and construct a fitting finale, so the Arrowverse got a happy ending. Director Jesse Warn helmed episodes across The CW’s superhero shows over the years, and recently reflected on the experience to CinemaBlend.
Jesse Warn was prolific across the Arrowverse going back to 2014, with multiple episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, and The Flash to his name as a director, as well as a producing role on Supergirl. He even directed one of the very last episodes of The Flash, which aired in March. When I spoke with Warn about his action-packed episode of Jesse L. Martin’s The Irrational, I noted that a closely-connected TV universe on the scale of the Arrowverse was all but unprecedented and asked for his thoughts on his time working there. He shared:
That was a really fun time. And obviously… it was its own bubble, really. I just feel like it was a great opportunity to work with all those different actors with the shows all threading together and crossovers and references between shows. A lot of those shows shot in Vancouver, so all the actors, a lot of the crew, everyone got to know each other as we worked on different shows together. So I guess it was a really unique opportunity in a way. You’re right, it was kind of unprecedented in some respects. I feel really quite grateful to have been involved in that. It was a lot of fun.
The Arrowverse crossovers started small, when Arrow and The Flash were the only two shows and the Green Arrow and Scarlet Speedster weren’t facing multiversal disasters on the regular. For better or worse, the most ambitious crossover was undoubtedly “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” which not only brought the existing Arrowverse shows together, but also officially brought Black Lightning in and featured characters from other DC Comics projects, including Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar and even Ezra Miller as the DCU’s Flash.
Based on what Jesse Warn shared about his time working on the various CW superhero shows, it sounds like there was a sense of crossover behind the scenes as well with the cast and crews. There are of course a shortage of superpowers on The Irrational compared to the Arrowverse, but Warn did reunite with former Flash series regular Jesse L. Martin for the new NBC drama. After I was won over by the new show based on one specific line, I asked the director if he had a sense of deja vu working with Martin again. He laughed and shared:
Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was such a nice backstory for us both to have that connection of having worked together in the past. I think that really was not only fun, but it was also really helpful in terms of us just already having a little bit of a shorthand, knowing each other and having worked together. It certainly was an asset.
Alec Mercer on The Irrational definitely isn’t interchangeable with Joe West on The Flash, but Arrowverse fans can see a familiar face in action with Jesse L. Martin’s new gig on NBC. If you missed the first two episodes and want to give the show a shot, you can find it streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription. As for the Arrowverse… well, it seems to be finished for good.
Superman & Lois will return for a fourth season, but isn’t technically part of the Arrowverse despite the leads playing Clark Kent and Lois Lane across the “Elseworlds” crossover and “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event. You can still find The CW’s former superhero shows streaming, however. Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Black Lightning can be found with a Netflix subscription, while Batwoman is streaming for fans with Max subscriptions.