Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for The Flash season 9 premiere.The Flash season 9 episode 1 evoked the name of Cat Grant from Supergirl, confirming that both shows are still set on the same Earth. This paid off the promise of more crossovers in the shared Earth-Prime setting created by the Crisis on Infinite Earths event in 2020. It also set the stage for more nods to the larger Arrowverse over the course of The Flash season 9.
The Crisis On Infinite Earths event was a game-changer for every adaptation of DC Comics' characters across multiple forms of media, confirming that every television show and movie ever inspired by DC Comics was part of a shared multiverse. The aftermath promised more frequent crossovers between all the DC Comics shows still in production, with all the Arrowverse series migrating to the shared world dubbed Earth-Prime. Unfortunately, these crossover plans were completely curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden cancelation of most of the Arrowverse shows. Apart from a few cameos in The Flash season 8, the Earth-Prime setting has not amounted to much.
The Earth-Prime Setting Is Moving Forward
The Flash season 9,episode 1, "Wednesday Ever After," featured a surprising reference to Cat Grant, the media mogul from Supergirl who served as Kara Danvers' boss and mentor. One major subplot of the episode centered around Cat Grant making an offer to buy Iris West-Allen's newspaper, Central City Citizen Media, making it a franchise of her CatCo Worldwide Media empire. It was Barry Allen's belief that this incident was what led to Iris establishing a larger journalistic footprint on a national level and eventually winning her first Pulitzer Prize, based on what their time-traveling children had told them of the future.
While Iris ultimately decided not to sell CCC Media, the reference to Cat Grant and the larger Arrowverse was a pleasant surprise. Cat Grant had been largely absent from the later seasons of Supergirl, although she did return for the Supergirl series finale, where she revealed that she knew Kara Danvers was Supergirl and offered Kara her dream job as editor-in-chief of CatCo Magazine. The fact that Cat Grant is still wheeling and dealing after Supergirl came to a close proves that the shared Arrowverse setting of Earth-Prime is moving forward, even if it has not been referenced as much as Crisis On Infinite Earths suggested it would be.
Cat Grant Nod Foreshadows The Arrowverse Future
While Cat Grant does not make an on-camera appearance in The Flash season 9 premiere, the fact that the episode referenced her continued influence on the media of Earth-Prime foreshadows several upcoming Arrowverse cameos. The final season of The Flash is shaping up to be a finale of sorts for the Arrowverse as well, with Stephen Amell returning to the setting he started and playing Oliver Queen one more time. It has also been confirmed that Nicole Maines, who played Dreamer on Supergirl, will be appearing at some point, along with Wally West and John Diggle.
The Flash season 9 continues on Wednesdays on The CW.