‘Arrow’ Star Addresses “Nightmare” CW Crossovers

For fans, the annual Arrowverse crossover is the highlight of The CW‘s DCTV programing as the heroes from all four shows come together to take on a shared threat. However, even though they’re great for fans, according to one Arrow star they are a “nightmare” to make.

During an appearance at Oz Comic-Con in Melbourne, Australia this weekend, John Diggle actor David Ramsey told fans that, from a logistics standpoint, the crossovers are so difficult that everyone swears that they will never do them again.

“Logistically, it’s a nightmare,” Ramsey said. “And every single year they swear they’ll never do it again. And they always do.”

While numerous small crossovers have long been a staple of the Arrowverse with characters popping up on each other’s shows for various, plot-related reasons — such as Diggle appearing briefly on The Flash as part of the team’s efforts to fight The Thinker in Season 4 or Legends of Tomorrow‘s Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) appearing in the Arrow finale — the large, full-on crossovers became a major event for The CW with 2016-2017’s “Invasion!”. The most recent crossover, “Crisis on Earth-X” took the crossover concept to the next level. Though spread over two nights, “Crisis on Earth-X” played out more like a movie with the first night giving the network some of its best Monday ratings since 2009.

But, putting something that huge together isn’t easy and Ramsey isn’t the first person within the Arrowverse to talk about how difficult they are. Departing Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim elaborated to ComicBook.com at ACE Comic Con in Phoenix earlier this year about the multiple moving parts, going so far as to compare the crossover to “a really difficult labor”.

“We always sort of talk about it… I always say, the crossover is a really difficult labor,” Guggenheim said. “It’s like going into the room of a woman who just gave birth and she’s still swaddling her newborn and you ask, ‘so how about the next one?’ At the same time, we’ve had discussions.

“We know that the crossovers are a fact of life. I do think that there’s a bit desire on the part of all of us, as well as the studio and the network, to do the crossover differently than we did this past year. IN part because I honestly don’t know how we top it. And also, because the level of ambition was so high that it affects a lot of different things. It affects schedules, it affects casts, it affects budgets.”

The upcoming 2018-2019 crossover might end up being even bigger, too. At the network upfronts in May, Arrow star Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) revealed that Batwoman would be joining the Arrowverse during the crossover. It was news that got fans very excited as it brings the world of Batman solidly into that television universe. It’s a major event, but even for all the work it — and all crossovers bring — it sounds like they’re ready for it. Amell told fans at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in London recently that the next crossover is “awesome”.

“I know the entire story of the crossover,” he said. “It’s awesome, and I can’t talk about it at all.”

Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow are all currently on hiatus. Supergirl will close out their third season on Monday, June 18, 2018. All four shows will return this fall (you can check out the schedule here). Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on the 2018-2019 Arrowverse crossover event.

What do you want to see in the next Arrowverse crossover? Let us know what stories you’d like to see explored in the comment section below.