Posted in: CW, Opinion, Preview, TV, TV | Tagged: arrowverse, opinion, superman and lois, the cw, The Flash

Superman and Lois/Arrowverse Answer Made The Flash S09 More Difficult

Look, at this point, if you're someone who's a fan of The CW's Arrowverse then none of what I'm about to say is a spoiler. And if it is a spoiler to you… why did you click the link? Whatever way you're feeling about it, Superman & Lois showrunner Todd Helbing kept his promise. The show definitely addressed its status within the Arrowverse, with Dylan Walsh's General Lane delivering this line, "I've been working for the DOD for a long time. I've seen things you would not believe- glimpses of other worlds, and the leagues of superheroes they have on them. And even though we only have your father on this planet, thank God that we do, because he's the finest of any Earth." And while we're sure it was done as a "pull the bandaid off quickly move" it also came across a bit dismissive considering two season's worth of fans believed the show was set in the Arrowverse only to learn that it wasn't. And that every Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) that viewers saw with Grant Gustin's Barry Allen aka The Flash (for example) weren't the ones from the current series? Yeah. Ouch. But it's not just Arrowverse fans and misled (they kinda were) Superman & Lois fans who I'm feeling for right now. I'm going to add The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace and the writing team to that list because of the expectations on all of them (as well as Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, and more). But before we get to that, Helbing had the opportunity to speak more about the decision with EW- including who's to blame for keeping it from the fans for so long.

Helbing Sees the Move from Two Perspectives: "When you're part of a big — obviously I was part of The Flash for five years, I ran it for some of that time I was there, and tracking of the other shows' stories, that is a huge undertaking. In some ways, it's easier to not be associated with the other shows in such an intimate way because you don't have to track everything. You can kind of just concentrate on your characters and put 100 percent of your focus into the show that you're trying to make. And in other ways, it's sad because clearly doing all the crossovers is a huge reward for fans and everybody that's tuned in for years. And that stuff is tremendously fun to work on and satisfying. But there's not seven, eight shows on the air right now, so that in itself is a much bigger challenge to do stuff like that. I don't know, it's conflicting, for sure."

Here's Who Arrowverse Fans Can Blame for Delaying the Reveal: "Ultimately, these decisions are not up to me. [Laughs] I'm the showrunner but I have a lot of bosses, and in my discussion with DC, they just felt like it would be best to wait until the end of season 2 before I could reveal that. I would love to tell you a specific answer about why DC wanted that, but they have their own structure over there in what they are trying to accomplish and we're just one piece of that, so I am glad to do whatever they request."

Helbing Feels Your Pain, Arrowverse Fans: "Look, I get it. I get it if the fans are disappointed. It's a lot easier to be honest, finally, to tell everybody and not feel like you're deceiving people when I was answering these questions like 'Why isn't Supergirl showing up?' or 'Why isn't the Flash showing up?' I'm just glad that finally everybody knows now so we can just continue to make the best show we can."

Helbing Still Isn't Ruling Out Crossovers: "I mean, 'Supergirl' was on CBS and came over to 'Flash,' and vice versa. We're doing a comic book show, so it doesn't necessarily mean that this will never happen. I think the odds of it looking exactly the way that it has in the past are slim. But if there's an opportunity, and if there's a desire, I'm sure there are versions that we can do.

Okay, on that last one? Don't hold your breath. That's not happening. The only chance at a crossover would be the final season of The Flash (whenever that ends up being) and even then I'm not placing a huge bet. And speaking of the Scarlet Speedster, the reason why my heart's already starting to bleed for Wallace and the writing team? Because every Arrowverse fan out there is going to expect The Flash to carry the banner for all of the storyline points that were left dangling. And don't get me started on how everyone and their mother is going to be expected to make a guest appearance. And just so we're not hypocrites? We advocated for the very same thing here. Now all of that is on top of the fact that why Wallace is planning to map out an abbreviated two-season plan, though realistically we know he's going into Season 9 with the expectation that it will be the series-ender. That means there are things from a creative standpoint that the writers will like to address from a show-specific perspective out of respect for the viewers. Like "Cobalt Blue" and Barry & Iris (Patton) having more on-screen "together time" together. That's a tough task to pull off even in "normal" situations, but add in Arrowverse fans' hopes and dreams being thrown their way, too? Yeah. Ouch.

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