The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace opens up on the Crisis on Infinite Earths-level Arrowverse crossover that almost happened. As of this year, Greg Berlanti's Arrowverse franchise has come to an end as The Flash season 9 wrapped its run. The Flash was officially the final remaining Earth-Prime series in the franchise, following several Arrowverse shows that got canceled in 2022 on The CW.
While there were no traditional Arrowverse crossovers in The Flash season 9, it appears the showrunner had one in mind that would be similar to Crisis on Infinite Earths. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wallace revealed that he had planned to do an adaption of the infamous Green Lantern arc, Blackest Night, which would have involved characters from Titans, Stargirl, and Superman & Lois. The multi-part event would have tied back to The Flash season 8's Deathstorm storyline, with Wallace hoping to bring in Nekron. The Flash boss also revealed more details on the lost The Forever Arc storyline, sharing the following:
Back in season 8, we set up The Blackest Night storyline with Deathstorm. When Deathstorm was defeated, the emotional vibrations went all the way back to the Netherverse and another dimension to Nekron, who's right out of the comic books. I wanted to have one final, big, huge epic crossover, getting everybody — if you're on a show or not — back together for that storyline. What that would have allowed me to do is bring back characters that are dead. The idea was to get them all together to stop Nekron and all his Black Lanterns, which I'm sure Geoff Johns would've loved because it's his creation.
[About The Forever War]: That's one of these crazy things that I've been hinting at, which is very tied in with the Chronarch. We've been hinting that the Chronarch would be back in some way, as early as season 7 when Abra Kadabra [David Dastmalchian] mentions to Barry, 'The Chronarch is coming and is going to mess up your life.' It has to do with Barry and Iris because eternity is falling apart and forever is getting taken away. That would've kicked off season 10 with a couple of special guest stars that we would have seen.
Why The Flash's Abandoned Arrowverse Crossover Ideas Should Happen In Comic Format
With the Arrowverse having come to an end, at least on The CW, there are other ways for The Flash's crossover ideas to come to fruition. A method that other major genre shows have taken - including Smallville and Buffy the Vampire Slayer - is to get comic continuations. This would be a viable avenue for the Arrowverse, as it would allow fans to continue following the franchise's versions of these DC characters. The Arrowverse has also previously done comic tie-ins, including 2022's Earth-Prime limited series, which even had storylines factor into The Flash season 9.
Having The Flash season 10 appear in comic format - or even a proper Arrowverse comic series - would also allow the franchise to continue without the restraints that come with TV productions. Making Blackest Night in live-action with CW resources would be a hard challenge, both from a VFX standpoint and also from the number of actors that Wallace had in mind to bring in as special guest stars. But as a comic book series, they could have the Arrowverse's Justice League be fully realized without making it feel or look constrained.
Time will tell if The Flash will ever get to do any of Wallace's remaining storylines in other mediums, especially now that season 9 has completed its run. Even if the Arrowverse never continues again, it was a massive run for the beloved franchise that fans will be able to re-live through home release or streaming. But if any of those The Flash arcs ever got a chance to be told in comic continuations, it would be interesting to see how they would tackle Blackest Night.
Source: Entertainment Weekly