This Forgotten Comic Book Series Actually Revealed the Real Future of the Arrowverse

Last December, The CW’s landmark DC Comics inspired television franchise — the Arrowverse — officially came to an end. The series finale of Superman & Lois, while not directly connected to shows such as Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, marked the end of the network’s long-running shared universe that had been a staple on television for 12 years across seven different series. But while that series closed out its own story, the overall franchise left behind a lot of questions about what might have come next. Arrow had a proposed spinoff that never materialized, The Flash introduced new speedsters at the last minute, Supergirl revealed her identity to the world, Legends of Tomorrow ended on a cliffhanger… you get the idea.

Yet, while the various television series didn’t fully wrap things up, the future of the Arrowverse was already revealed well before everything concluded in live action. Back in 2022, DC released a six-issue limited comic book series directly tying into the Arrowverse and while many fans have forgotten the comics in the years since, that series revealed the future of the Arrowverse, letting it live on in print and in the imaginations of fans.

DC Gave The Arrowverse its Own Crossover Comic: Earth-Prime

Released in 2022, DC’s Earth-Prime series was a six-issue limited series with five of the issues focusing a different DC television series while the sixth and final issue served as a crossover event. The story kicked off with Batwoman and saw Ryan Wilder running herself ragged dealing with new villains popping up in Gotham City after tech that created many of Batman’s rogues hit the streets. However, while the issue focused on Batwoman, a larger threat is suggested in the background, one that continues to be subtly woven across the other books. It more directly comes to a head in the fourth issue, Earth-Prime: Stargirl when it’s revealed that Magog is the Big Bad. By the time we get to issue five, Earth-Prime: The Flash, we’re following not Barry Allen’s story, but that of his kids, Nora and Bart operating as heroes in 2049. It’s in that issue that Magog shows up again and declares that he’s out to kill the heroes, starting with Wally West.

[RELATED: Did The CW’s Arrowverse Stick the Landing?]

How Did Earth-Prime Reveal the Future of the Arrowverse?

While each issue of Earth-Prime was largely its own story, the final issue, Earth-Prime: Hero’s Twilight, saw Bart and Nora having to face off with Magog, getting a little help from the rest of the Arrowverse’s heroes in the process. Supergirl shows up, as does Mia Queen’s Green Arrow, The Atom, Batwoman, Superman, and more. By the end of the issue — and with Magog defeated, all of the heroes are hanging out in the Hall of Justice. There, Former Green Arrow and current Spectre Oliver Queen shows up to warn that the heroes of the future need to be ready for what’s coming.

What we can take away from the Earth-Prime comics is that the future of the Arrowverse is, in many ways, the status quo. We learn that in the future it’s Barry Allen’s speedster kids who are continuing to serve as heroes, as is the case for Mia Queen in Star City. It’s suggested that due to their time travel adventures, the Legends are also still serving in a heroic capacity, and we know that despite technically no longer being part of things, Oliver Queen can and does still interact with his old friends if the threat is big enough. The biggest revelation, however, is that the various heroes of the Arrowverse really do end up operating as a team: the Justice League. This in particular is a notable tease of the future because the actual live-action series never really paid off on this team despite loosely forming it during a crossover event.

Earth-Prime Set Up the End of the Arrowverse… and Left Big Questions

While Earth-Prime revealed a bit of the Arrowverse’s future, it also set up the end of the franchise for some characters and made things even more confusing for others. In terms of Batwoman, with that series having ended after three seasons on March 2, 2022, Earth-Prime: Batwoman‘s story took place roughly in the middle of that series’ final season and expanded a bit of the story, making the actual series finale a little more satisfying in retrospect. For The Flash, the epilogue of Earth-Prime: Hero’s Twilight set up a final season storyline, specifically the “interlude” of the season. The epilogue teased that Bloodwork had been released and the character did indeed show up in “It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To” — as did Oliver Queen, setting up or the series’ final four episodes.

But the series left some big questions, too. Mia Queen appeared in the comics and it was revealed that she had, at some point, gotten a metal arm. While fans had seen Mia operating as Green Arrow as part of the backdoor pilot for Green Arrow and the Canaries, that series never materialized and the content of the Earth-Prime story takes place nearly a decade between that failed pilot and the comics. How exactly Mia ended up with that arm (and how the story set up for Green Arrow and the Canaries played out) remains a mystery. There’s also the Legends of Tomorrow-based story. That series ended on a cliffhanger at the end of Season 7 and Earth-Prime: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow teased what would have been a potential Season 8 storyline leaving fans to wonder even more about what could have been. And then, of course, there’s the Stargirl of it all. Stargirl got her own issue of Earth-Prime, but the series wasn’t technically part of the Arrowverse. Given that Stargirl’s issue was so integral to the “big bad” of Earth-Prime, it makes one wonder if the live-action series was meant to more directly connect to the Arrowverse had the Stargirl series continued.

While The CW’s Arrowverse ultimately left quite a few threads dangling, thanks to Earth-Prime, fans of the long-running franchise have a bit of closure. By revealing that the heroes continue to work together as the Justice League and that the future sees a specific next generation of heroes continuing the work, not only do fans get left with a bit of optimism, but room to imagine what new adventures might be had. More than that, the brief glimpse of tomorrow on the pages of the comic leaves plenty of space for DC to revisit the Arrowverse in the future – no trip on the Waverider needed.