On Friday it was confirmed that The CW will bring together its DC shows Arrow and The Flash for a two-hour crossover in episode eight of Arrow’s third season and The Flash’s first, following a guest appearance by Emily Bett Rickards in episode four of The Flash. Now, speaking to Collider, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has offered some details about the crossover, stating that it won’t be necessary for fans to watch both shows to follow the storyline.
“Both Episode 8 of Arrow and The Flash will be a two-part cross-over. Not to toot our own horns, but I think we’ve designed it in a way that, if you’re not watching The Flash, you can just enjoy it from the Arrow perspective, where these crazy Flash people show up for an episode, and vice versa. We don’t want to be brazen and assume that everybody is watching both shows. Hopefully, they will be. I think it’s one of those things where, if you’re not watching both shows, whichever show you’re watching, it will all make sense to you. But at the same time, if you are watching both shows, you’re really gonna get a fun, cool two-night event.”
Kreisberg also went on to discuss the restrictions placed upon the show because of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Warner’s plans for a Justice League movie, stating that: “There really aren’t that many characters that we’ve asked to use, that we haven’t gotten access to. Fortunately for us, with Arrow, we were able to bring on Deathstroke and The Huntress, and this year we have Katana. It was actually DC comics’ idea for us to use Ray Palmer/The Atom. On The Flash, with Geoff Johns, our partner, we’ve carved out this whole world of characters that we have access to. There are the big ones that fit into the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman mythos, but since we’re not using those characters, they’re subsidiary characters don’t really feel necessary to us. We never feel like we’re confined. We’re more impressed that we get to play with as many characters as we do. By the end of this season, on both shows, we’ll have Green Arrow, Black Canary, Katana, The Atom, Firestorm and The Flash. If you’ve got Green Arrow and The Flash, why would you want Batman and Superman around? I think we’ve figured out how to do those characters really well. There’s something very distancing about Superman and Batman that I think works so well in the features, but that I’m not sure would necessarily lend themselves to a weekly series. We’re very happy with the characters that we have.”
The Flash premieres on October 7th, with Arrow season 3 getting underway the following day.
Originally published July 21, 2014. Updated January 18, 2020.
