The Flash, Superman and Lois, and the Rest of the Arrowverse: Everything We Learned About the 2021 Season

Yesterday saw the release of the official synopses for upcoming seasons of The Flash, Legends of [...]

By Russ Burlingame - May 15, 2020 03:35 pm EDT

Yesterday saw the release of the official synopses for upcoming seasons of The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Superman & Lois, Batwoman, and Supergirl. Each one gave little glimpses of what is to come in 2021, when The CW returns new episodes to TV. Some more than others (Black Lightning, for instance, was a very general description of the series as a whole and gave no real insight into next season -- same with Supergirl), but almost all of them had at least a little something to shed light on. From the ends of the current seasons to the stories that will fuel 2021, we learned quite a bit about the future of the Arrowverse.

With the Crisis on Infinite Earths behind them, the heroes of The CW's shared DC Universe seemed like maybe the coming season would not be quite as bogged down by past entanglements as this year was. Instead, production on almost all of the shows ended early, leaving them with incomplete stories and the need to clean up lingering threats in the next season.

Whether it's romances or disappearances, villains or new, mysterious heroes, we've got everything we were able to squeeze out of a few paragraphss right here for you.

Read on for a rundown of what we noticed while reading through the synopses.

The next big villain for The Flash: Iris?

the flash mirror mistress season 7 story — (Photo: The CW)

It's unlikely that the original plan was for Mirror Master to kick Flash's butt, kill her husband, humiliate the team, and then walk away scot free. If the season had finished the way it was intended, Eva (Efrat Dor) almost certainly would have gone down. It didn't, though, and that means the season will begin where this one left off: with Mirror Master victorious and Iris somehow lost in the mirrorverse.

So when the next episode airs in 2021, The Flash will have to take down Mirror Master before there is a powerful new threat, which the synopsis for the season says will endanger both the world, and Barry's marriage. That has led a not-insignificant number of fans on social media to predict that, before WestAllen can have any kind of meaningful happy ending, Iris will be a temporary adversary. It would line up with what Eva's husband had been saying about the Mirrorverse driving people insane, and could be a way to more seamlessly integrate Mirror Master's story into the first half of season 2, without feeling like it's obviously only there because of the production shutdown. Extending the "Mirror Iris" story too far out would risk alienating a lot of the audience who already felt the story was moving too slowly, but if they could make her the "7a" villain, then bring someone else in for the second half of the season (like what they did with Bloodwork and Mirror Master this season), it would make a lot of sense.

Team Flash

the flash brandon mcknight chester runk series regular — (Photo: The CW)

Next season on The Flash, to the surprise of few, they will bring back Allegra and Chester P. Runk as official parts of Team Flash. This is notable mostly because some of the members they have brought on in the past haven't returned the next season (remember Julian?).

Notably absent from the synopsis? Kamilla (Victoria Park), who last thing we knew was stuck in the mirrorverse along with Iris and Chief Singh.It's hard to know whether to read anything into that, though, as it might just be that she is recurring and not a series regular, so doesn't make the synopsis but still has roughly the same role.

Superman and Lois go to Smallville

superman & lois poster the cw — (Photo: The CW)

Based on the synopsis for Superman & Lois, it looks like the series will go to Smallville...and spend much of its time there. Given that we had heard rumors of casting for various Daily Planet folks, and that the paper's iconic globe appears on the first poster for the series, it seems pretty clear that Metropolis won't be a non-entity...but certainly anybody who assumed they would stay in the city is in for a bit of a rude awakening.

It seems likely that at least part of the story will be based on the stories told by Dan Jurgens, Peter J. Tomasi, Pat Gleason, and the other artists who worked on Superman: Lois and Clark as well as the Rebirth-branded comics that followed it. In those stories, Lois and Clark lived in the country, where Jonathan Kent first discovered his powers, lived, and had friends, growing up much the same way his father had (excepting, obviously, that his dad is Superman, not Jonathan Kent, and could help guide him through the powers stuff with firsthand knowledge).

Is Superman working with (or for) Sam Lane?

It seems like Superman might be working for, or at least with, the U.S. government in the same way Supergirl is on her show. In the synopsis, The CW says, "there's never a dull moment in the life of a superhero, especially with Lois' father, General Samuel Lane (Dylan Walsh, "Nip/Tuck") looking for Superman to vanquish a villain or save the day at a moment's notice."

Gotham is falling apart (of course)

At the start of season 2, Alice is teamed with Hush to try and obtain something from Bruce's arsenal that will help take Kate down once and for all. Whether or not they succeed in getting it, something else happens: the city's rogues gallery is released, potentially putting Kate face to face with any number of Bruce Wayne's villains (or maybe Cassandra Jean Amell, whose Nora Fries played a role in the "Elseworlds" crossover). Meanwhile, another, as-yet-unidentified threat will come in and mess with even Alice's head.

Everyone's in love, though

Mary and Luke will tackle a new relationship, at the same time as Sophie and Julia. But Kate, apparently, has no time for a relationship while the Batwoman-ing is taking up all her time.

Behrad

If you are wondering whether Behrad Tarazi will in fact be brought back to life as a result of the Legends' efforts in the last few episodes of season five, look no further: the season synopsis for next year says that, yes, Behrad is back. That doesn't mean that Zari will go back to being a shallow social media influencer, though. Instead, the two will both wield the Totem's power.

Wonder Twins activate!

Where's Charlie?

charlie-legends-of-tomorrow — (Photo: Warner Bros. TV/The CW)

The one Legend not listed on the synopsis for the 2021 season? Charlie/Clotho, one of the three Fates, who has driven most of the story this season and will play a key role in the last few episodes as the one responsible for using the Loom of Fate.

It could be that she ultimately has to sacrifice herself -- or that she needs to take on a new, cosmic role (after all, actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers did say that Charlie's journey this year was deciding if she wanted to be a Fate or a Legend). Fans don'twant to see Richardson-Sellers -- who has been with the team since season two in two different roles -- go, though. So another possibility is...

Aliens!

The synopsis says that a Legend will be abducted by aliens, which will set up an intergalactic quest that will shape the season. Some are wondering whether that means the one kidnapped will be Charlie, which would explain why she isn't mentioned elsewhere (you don't want to spoil what is probably the surprise at the end of the finale).

Obviously it could be almost anybody who gets kidnapped, but it seems most likely to be either Charlie for the reasons outlined above, or somebody like Gary or Mona -- recurring, rather than regular, characters who wouldn't fundamentally change the show by being missing for a few episodes.

A New Legend

There's also a new Legend -- a female who may or may not be a former alien abductee granted powers by the experience. She also may or may not be crazy and just making the whole thing up. It's hard to say whether this will be a superhero from the comics, an original character, or something in the middle -- an original character who gets kind of backed into a superhero identity from the comics.