With three superhero shows currently on The CW’s programming slate – that’s Arrow, The Flash and the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow for those keeping track – it’s a perfectly acceptable assumption that the network would want to build its DC comics library up as much as possible in the future. But even though the two flagship series are major players for The CW, it seems like network execs want to make sure the world doesn’t have too much of a good thing, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any new super-series any time soon, at least in relation to what already exists. Maybe when Rip Hunter comes around, he can tell us what the future holds in store for The CW’s plans.
When recently speaking at the TCA press event, CW president Mark Pedowitz expectedly answered a ton of DC-related questions. And when the subject of later projects was breached, here’s what Pedowitz had to say.
There is no intention, at this point, to spin anything else off.
It is, of course, easy to look a little deeper into the literalness behind this sentence to posit a few eventualities that do indeed have more comic book characters lurking around the network. For one, he’s obviously not closing the door on all possible adaptations at later dates; he just wants to keep the focus on the next seasons of Arrow and The Flash, which will lead into Legends during the midseason break. Should that spinoff indeed prove overly successful, you can bet that there are several brainstormed ideas already in the wings for where to take things in the future. (In other words, make sure you’re watching, guys!)
As well, he’s only specifically talking about spinning things off there. What about DC comic book series that aren’t meant to be spun off from Arrow and The Flash? Could we not get some other standalone superhero series down the road? The CW also has iZombie airing on the same night as The Flash, and that’s a product from DC imprint Vertigo, so it seems likely that the network would want to continue that relationship in other ways moving forward. We’re still holding out for a Y: The Last Man adaptation, after all.
Earlier this year, there were rumors of a Hawkgirl series being in development, but those got shut down. And that’s totally understandable, since that would have been branching off of Legends of Tomorrow, assuming she lives through it, that is. And that pretty much also shuts down any hopes that a second season of Constantine might be born of the character’s Arrow appearance. Still, I’m hoping Rip Hunter indeed gets his own show at some point.
Until then, though, we’ll just have to settle for the awesomeness that already exists. Arrow Season 4 will premiere on Wednesday, October 7, while The Flash will bring Season 2 to audiences the day before, on Tuesday, October 6. Legends of Tomorrow, meanwhile, will debut at some point in early 2016.
