10 Years Ago Today, the Arrowverse Wrapped Up Its Worst Crossover (& Prepared to Trick Its Audience)

The Arrowverse isn’t in the conversation for the greatest superhero franchise of all time. While it has its moments, the competition is just too fierce, even with the recent string of misses from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the Arrowverse does have one thing over its rival across the aisle: crossovers. Sure, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come together in the Avengers films, including Avengers: Endgame, which is widely considered the most epic superhero movie of all time, but there’s a charm lacking in those projects that’s present in The CW shows. The way the Arrowverse makes up ground is by having seasons with 20+ episodes, where all the characters learn and grow before it’s time to meet up with their allies for the annual event.

Some highlights of the Arrowverse’s crossovers include the heroes travelling to Earth-X to defeat their evil Nazi doppelgangers and Oliver Queen becoming the Spectre to save the multiverse in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Unfortunately, as high as the highs are, there are some lows, such as a lackluster event that’s currently celebrating its tenth anniversary. And as if being the worst crossover wasn’t bad enough, it’s also a reminder of the biggest trick the Arrowverse ever pulled.

The Arrowverse Loses the Plot in Its Second-Ever Crossover

The first Arrowverse crossover, “Flash vs. Arrow,” keeps things simple. Villains show up in both Central City and Starling City, and it’s up to The Flash and Arrow to learn how to work together and save their homes. The following season, the stakes get significantly higher when a villain named Vandal Savage shows up on the scene. He’s after a woman, Kendra Saunders, who The Flash’s Cisco Ramon is fond of. Realizing that they’re in over their heads, Team Flash reaches out to Team Arrow for help. But what seems like another great team-up on paper becomes a bit of a mess once the ball gets rolling.

“Heroes Join Forces” struggles because it spends far too much time worrying about a story that should remain an issue for Arrow and Arrow alone: Oliver’s potential son. While in Central City, Oliver sees a former flame of his with a kid and suspects the kid could be his. He asks Barry for help with the situation, but Felicity Smoak catches wind of the whole thing, throwing Oliver off his game. And when the crossover isn’t wrecking Oliver’s home life, it’s trying really hard to make Hawkgirl and Hawkman as interesting as possible because the franchise has big plans for them. None of it works, and what doesn’t help matters is a tie-in trailer that sells a bill of goods it’s not actually offering.

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Legends of Tomorrow Pulled the Rug Out From the Jump

Prior to the release of “Heroes Join Forces,” The CW announced that another spinoff show, titled Legends of Tomorrow, was in the works. Rather than focusing on a new hero, it would take supporting characters from The Flash and Arrow and give them a chance to become “legends.” Savage would be the main villain, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl would also play major roles, which explained their appearance in the crossover. The CW put so much stock in their latest venture, in fact, that it released a trailer that prepared the world for the arrival of the next great superhero team.

The first Legends of Tomorrow trailer sees Arrow and The Flash convince Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Martin Stein, Leonard Snart, and Mick Rory to trust Rip Hunter, a time traveller who wants their help to save the timeline from Savage. To help ease the tension, the Scarlet Speedster accompanies the team on a mission that sees them fight grunts, as well as a giant robot. The show looks like a ton of fun, but the great moments from the trailer are missing from the final product. Barry doesn’t fight alongside the Legends in Season 1, and there are a few other inconsistencies. While Legends of Tomorrow finds its footing later on, it does not come out of the gate swinging, and the “Heroes Join Forces” crossover is at least partly to blame.

The Arrowverse shows are streaming on Netflix.

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