The CW is in the middle of holding its Upfront 2017 presentation in New York today, and the network is releasing a ton of new info regarding the upcoming slate of programming.
People are already looking ahead towards the fall, since the current season is already wrapping up. Both Riverdale and Legends of Tomorrow have already aired their finales, and the rest of the DC shows – Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash – are heading into the offseason next week.
Videos by ComicBook.com
To prepare for the fall, CW has released an updated synopsis for each of its current comic book TV shows, as well as a brand new synopsis for upcoming series, Black Lightning.
You can read each of the new series descriptions below!
Supergirl
SUPERGIRL is an action-adventure drama based on the DC character Kara Zor-El, (Melissa Benoist) Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret.
Years later, Kara was living in National City and still concealing her powers, when a plane crash threatened Alex’s life and Kara took to the sky to save her. Now, Kara balances her work as a reporter for CatCo Worldwide Media with her work for the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO), a super-secret government organization whose mission is to keep National City – and the Earth – safe from sinister threats. At the DEO, Kara works for J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood), the Martian Manhunter, and alongside her sister, Alex, and best friend, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan). Also in Kara’s life are media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), a photo journalist who moonlights as Guardian, a masked vigilante, Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), and Mon-El of Daxam (Chris Wood), whose planet was ravaged by Krypton’s destruction. As Kara struggles to navigate her relationships and her burgeoning life as a reporter, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.
Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, SUPERGIRL is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Andrew Kreisberg (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Robert Rovner (“Private Practice,” “Dallas”) and Jessica Queller (“Gilmore Girls,” “Gossip Girl,” “Felicity”).
The Flash
Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) lived a normal life as a perpetually tardy C.S.I. in the Central City Police Department. Barry’s life changed forever when the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator exploded, creating a dark-matter lightning storm that struck Barry, bestowing him with super-speed and making him the fastest man alive — The Flash. But when Barry used his extraordinary abilities to travel back in time and save his mother’s life, he inadvertently created an alternate timeline known as Flashpoint; a phenomenon that gave birth to the villainous speed god known as Savitar, and changed the lives of Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Wally West (Keiyan Lonsdale) forever.
With the help of his adoptive father, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), his lifelong best friend and love interest Iris West (Candice Patton), and his friends at S.T.A.R. Labs — Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), C.S.I Julian Albert (Tom Felton), and an Earth-19 novelist named H.R. Wells (Tom Cavanaugh) — Barry continues to protect the people of Central City from the meta-humans that threaten it.
Based on the characters from DC, THE FLASH is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “Supergirl”), Andrew Kreisberg (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”) and Todd Helbing (“Black Sails”).
Legends of Tomorrow
After the defeat of Eobard Thawne and his equally nefarious Legion of Doom, the Legends face a new threat created by their actions at the end of last season. In revisiting a moment in time that they had already participated in, they have essentially fractured the timeline and created anachronisms – a scattering of people, animals, and objects all across time! Our team must find a way to return all the anachronisms to their original timelines before the time stream falls apart. But before our Legends can jump back into action, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) and his newly established Time Bureau call their methods into question. With the Time Bureau effectively the new sheriffs in town, the Legends disband – until Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) discovers one of them in the middle of his well-deserved vacation in Aruba. Seeing this as an opportunity to continue their time travelling heroics, Sara (Caity Lotz) wastes no time in getting the Legends back together.
We reunite with billionaire inventor Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), the unconventional historian-turned-superhero Nick Heywood (Nick Zano), and Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Franz Drameh), who together form the meta-human Firestorm. Once reunited, the Legends will challenge the Time Bureau’s authority over the timeline and insist that however messy their methods may be, some problems are beyond the Bureau’s capabilities. Some problems can only be fixed by Legends.
Based on the characters from DC, DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl”), Marc Guggenheim (“Arrow,” “Trollhunters,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”), Andrew Kreisberg (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Eli Stone,” “Warehouse 13”), Phil Klemmer (“The Tomorrow People,” “Chuck”) and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash”)
Riverdale
The first season of RIVERDALE found our characters reeling from the tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom. For many who had seen their home as perfect, safe, and innocent, the investigation into Jason’s murder peeled back the layers of their hometown to reveal a place bubbling over with secrets, mysteries, and scandals. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), for instance, grew from a sweet, all-American kid into a young man acutely aware of the darker side of life—he broke his best friend’s heart, had a forbidden relationship with his music teacher, and grappled with whether he wanted to follow in his dad’s salt-of-the-earth footsteps. On the positive side, Archie repaired his friendship with Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), found some success as a musician—thanks in part to Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) and her band, the Pussycats—and found a new romantic interest in femme fatale Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes). New to town, Veronica spent the season trying to atone for her “bad girl” past, all the while wrestling with her beloved father’s criminal legacy—and contending with a mother, Hermione (Marisol Nichols), who might not be as innocent as she claimed. Veronica became fast-friends with Archie’s girl-next-door neighbor, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), who did some growing up of her own this season.
After Archie’s rejection, Betty threw herself into running the school paper, “The Blue and Gold,” where she discovered a better romantic match in sardonic outsider Jughead. Together, they tracked down Betty’s sister Polly (guest star Tiera Skovbye), who had been sent away by their overbearing mother Alice (Mädchen Amick). Under the guise of writing for the school paper, Betty and Jughead investigated Jason Blossom’s death—which led to them discover that Jughead’s father—FP Jones (guest star Skeet Ulrich)—was involved with covering up Jason’s murder. Meanwhile, Jason’s twin sister Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) ruled the school as Riverdale High’s venomous, merciless Red Queen—until she learned the true identity of Jason’s killer. As the town breathed a collective sigh of relief that Jason’s killer had been found out, another terrible crime occurred, in a space that had been considered one of the town’s safest, most innocent places. If Jason Blossom’s murder revealed the slimy underbelly beneath Riverdale’s surface, as we enter Season Two, the shooting of Fred Andrews threatens to plunge the entire town into utter darkness.
Based on the characters from Archie Comics, RIVERDALE is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions, with executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (“Supergirl,” “Glee”), Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”) and Jon Goldwater (Archie Comics).
Arrow
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. He returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs done by his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), computer-science expert Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), his vigilante-trained sister Thea Queen (Willa Holland), Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum), and his new recruits, street-savvy Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) and meta-human Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy).
Oliver has finally solidified and strengthened his crime-fighting team only to have it threatened when unexpected enemies from his past return to Star City, forcing Oliver to rethink his relationship with each member of his “family”.
Based on the characters from DC, ARROW is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Supergirl”), Marc Guggenheim (“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Eli Stone”), Wendy Mericle (“Desperate Housewives,” “Eli Stone”), Andrew Kreisberg (“The Flash,” “Eli Stone,” “Warehouse 13”) and Sarah Schechter (“The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”).
Black Lightning
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad.
Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.
Based on the characters from DC, BLACK LIGHTNING is from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Salim Akil & Mara Brock Akil (“Being Mary Jane,” “The Game,” “Girlfriends”), and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash”). The Black Lightning character was created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden.”
