It seems hard to believe, but this fall will mark the tenth anniversary of the Arrowverse. On October 10, 2012, Arrow debuted on The CW and soon after, the network expanded Oliver Queen’s world to include other superheroes with their own shows: The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman, Superman & Lois, even DC’s Stargirl and Black Lightning. But ten years on, the Arrowverse is a very different place than it was even just a few years ago. Arrow has ended its run, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” changed the very makeup of the shared universe by bringing the multiverse together onto one single Earth, Earth-Prime, and Supergirl took her final bow last year as well. There have also been other shifts. Thanks to COVID-19, the seasonal crossover event is largely a thing of the past and, on top of that Superman & Lois, the newest of the shows, seems the most disconnected, never really referencing the rest of the shared universe and even introducing versions of familiar characters who are drastically different. As the Arrowverse comes up on its milestone birthday, and considering the various shifts and changes in its landscape, one must ask: is the Arrowverse coming to an end?
