There’s no doubt the Arrowverse is some of the best programming television has to offer when it comes to superhero shows. The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow have many of DC’s greatest characters battling it out every week. Come Black Lightning, almost every day of the week will be filled with a show from the Arrowverse. Admit it, Marvel, when it comes to network television, DC is the champ. That is something DC can’t claim when it comes to its movies, though.
Warner Bros.’s DCEU movie slate has had its ups and downs compared to its TV counterpart, so it’s no surprise that many DC fans have taken to social media to create the most savage DCEU vs Arrowverse memes. Seriously, only the most hardcore of DC fans will understand this memes-o-palooza and needless to say, these memes are pretty awesome. To the detriment of the DCEU, it seems the Arrowverse has the upper hand. But don’t let that put a frown on your face, DC movie fans, when it comes to memes, the DCEU knows how to strike back.
Here are 15 Savage DCEU Vs Arrowverse Memes Only DC Fans Will Understand.
The Orphans
The DCEU’s Batman (Ben Affleck) and the Arrowverse’s Flash (Grant Gustin) have one thing in common: both of their parents are dead. We all know the story of Bruce Wayne’s origin like the back of our hand, so it’s no surprise this meme’s dark comedy is striking.
Warner Bros.’s Justice League gave us a glimpse at Ezra Miller’s Flash’s origin when he visited his father at prison. Soon after, Batman recruited him for the Justice League. But say, if it was Gustin’s Flash who Batfleck had recruited, there’s no denying they would’ve become the best of besties. Batman gets along especially well with other superheroes who’ve lost their parents, as weird as that sounds. Robin, Superman, and we can add the Arrowverse’s Flash to the group as well.
Flash Leaves Town For Flash
Many Arrowverse fans weren't happy to hear the news of Ezra Miller’s casting as the DCEU’s Flash. With Justice League now in theaters, Miller’s iteration of the character is perhaps the best part of the movie. But not everybody undermined Miller’s casting before the movie came out. The Arrowverse’s own Flash endorsed him through a meme, at least.
There are now two main Barry Allens in on our screens, but as this classic meme presents, Oliver Queen doesn’t approve. As funny as the meme is, it perfectly captures many of the sentiments of Arrowverse fans at the time of Miller’s casting announcement; the majority wanted Gustin to take his part to the Justice League movie.
The dual Flash debate is long over now and we thankfully have two amazing version of the character in both the big and small screen.
The DCEU’s Darkness Invades The Arrowverse
As opposed to Zack Snyder’s DCEU’s dark and gritty tone, many of the Arrowverse’s shows are undoubtedly some of the most light-hearted and colorful series on network television - besides Arrow perhaps. The Flash might take the throne as the joyous of them all. So it’s quite funny that in season 3 of The Flash we got to see, as this meme suggests, the DCEU’s influence on Grant Gustin’s version of the Flash.
This “emo” Flash is from a future where the evil speedster Savitar killed Iris. The death of Iris took a toll on Barry, causing him to change dramatically. That episode definitely felt like a standard DCEU film. The meme’s Spider-Man 3 reference just makes it even funnier.
Green Arrow Wants In On Justice League
The Justice League movie brought together DC’s trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), as well as The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. But DC fans, and the Green Arrow himself, as suggested by this hilarious meme, wanted more.
In the comics, the Justice League has been home to many of DC’s greatest superheroes, and of course, the Green Arrow is one of them. With the CW’s Arrow arguably been the most popular DC show on television, it’s only fair that Stephen Amell’s character gets to join the DCEU’s Justice League. There’s a multiverse for a reason!
Alas, there was no Green Arrow in Justice League, but interestingly, there is a Batman in the Arrowverse. In season 6 of the show, during an episode when Oliver Queen was accused of being the Green Arrow, he explicitly mentioned the names Bruce Wayne and Gotham City.
A Case Of Two Kryptonians
It’s being up for debate how people in DC Comics never notice that Clark Kent looks just like Superman, and the same applies to Kara Danvers (played by Melissa Benoist) in the CW’s Supergirl. There’s been several explanations, from sophisticated glasses to simple human nature, but when it comes to both Clark and Kara’s mutual similarities, this meme gets it completely right, in a rather hilarious way.
The meme pits two shots of Superman and Supergirl against each other, showing how Kara is seemingly copying her cousin’s every move and expression. Nonetheless, one could also say that Supes is copying Kara, since she is technically older than him. We can leave that point up for debate as well.
Green Arrow Teaches Batman How To Batman
Definitely one of the most hilarious DCEU vs. Arrowverse memes, here it seems Oliver Queen was the one who showed Bruce Wayne how to Bbe atman. Oliver in Arrow is famous for constantly working out in his bunker, though in the sixth season Oliver's workouts have decreased.
In his exercising prime, though, Oliver was a human machine, so when in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Bruce started training with the tire and rope, it wasn’t long until fans saw the similarities. The CW’s Arrow is essentially the network's version of the Caped Crusader, right down to the grittier tone, so it’s not surprising that this Oliver and the DCEU’s Batman are pretty identical. Both trained with Ra’s al Ghul and both are incredibly rich. A mutual workout routine was bound to happen, eventually.
The Arrowverse Runs DC
During the promotion of The Lego Batman Movie, Warner Bros. ran some ads depicting the Arrowverse heroes in Lego form. It’s not hard to see how all the heroes together represent a version of the Justice League. This has definitely been alluded to in various Arrowverse crossover events. Some fans have even gone to call these crossover events what a real Justice League movie should look like. Now that’s definitely savage.
With Justice League’s low box office performance and a mixed reception among fans and critics, it seems this meme is offering a solution to the problem. That said, with Lego Batman being a total success, perhaps a Lego Justice League movie should be what's next in Warner Bros. DC slate.
The DCEU Has A Better Superman
Everyone was excited when the CW announced that Superman would be making his official Arrowverse debut in season 2 of Supergirl. When images came out of Tyler Hoechlin as the Man of Steel, though,the excitement died down somewhat. Some fans said that the actor wasn’t big enough to play the part, comparing his physique to the likes of Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill’s Superman. This meme captures this sentiment precisely.
In a turn of events, not long after Hoechlin appeared on the show, many fans were captivated by his performance. Unlike Caville’s dark Superman, Hoechlin’s was reminiscent of the classic Reeve iteration. Nevertheless, we can pretty much agree that the DCEU won this round of memes.
The Timeline Trashers
One of the longest running memes of 2016 was Barry messing with timelines. The CW's Flash has been messing up timelines ever since the Reverse Flash killed his mother in season one. The most notable change in the Arrowverse timeline was during Flashpoint. The ramifications of the event left Arrow’s Diggle with no daughter, killed Cisco’s brother, and brought Savitar into existence.
We don’t know if Ezra Miller’s Flash will be as keen to mess with timelines as Gustin’s Flash, but this meme sure makes us hope so. What’s better than one Flash messing up timelines? Two of them doing it, of course! Plus, Bad Boys III: Trouble in Time sounds like a movie every DC fan would like to see.
Light vs. Dark
As previously mentioned, there’s a clear-cut difference between the DCEU and the Arrowverse. While one is gritty, dark, and somber, the other is joyous, colorful, and hopeful. The latter is definitely the Arrowverse. Shows like The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow capitalize on the hopeful nature of their characters. Flash is a symbol of prosperity and light in Central City, while Supergirl is the beacon of hope for her own city. We can’t say the same for Henry Cavill’s Superman, unfortunately.
Sure, the character’s sense of hope made a comeback in Justice League, but overall, the DCEU hasn’t been treating Superman well. And this meme captures that. If you are going to die in the Arrowverse, at least you’ll die having fun.
The DCEU vs. The Arrowverse
This year’s Arrowverse crossover event saw the heroes of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow unite to battle Nazi versions of themselves. Crisis on Earth X was an even better crossover than last year’s Dominators invasion, as the group of heroes truly felt like a Justice League. Coincidentally, the crossover aired around the same time of Justice League’s release, and as usual, it didn’t take long for the memes galore. Take this meme, a grand depiction of the superhero battle November hosted.
Crisis on Two Earths is an actual DC animated movie with a similar premise to Crisis on Earth X, except in this meme the two Earths going against each other are the DCEU and the Arrowverse. Who do you think could win?
Costumes
Besides the light-hearted tone of the Arrowverse, one of their key pertaining aspects is their infamous leather costumes. Not everyone is fond of them and it’s not hard to see their striking difference to the DCEU costumes. The majority of the costumes in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad and Justice League have a metal aesthetic, making them pop and shine; more pleasing to the eyes.
That’s not to say that some of the Arrowverse costumes are boring and dull. Indeed, two of the coolest costumes in the entirety of live-action DC are Deathstroke and Wild Dog’s new costumes. There’s nothing wrong with leather, but when it comes to costumes, the DCEU has the upper hand.
The Real Deathstroke
Most fans' consensus on Arrow villains lean towards Deathstroke taking the number one spot. Manu Bennett brought the character fully to life in season 2 of the show, after an impeccable performance in season one. He became the main antagonist of season 2 when he got addicted to the Mirakuru serum, but since then, has become a prominent aid to Oliver Queen and the Arrow team.
That said, as perfect as Bennett is as Deathstroke, fans lost their minds when Joe Manganiello was cast as the DCEU version of the character. There’s no denying Manganiello looks absolutely awesome as Slade Wilson and this meme totally nails the sentiment. Oliver running away from Deathstroke? It's a very possible outcome if Manganiello is the one under the suit.
The Flash Has Friends
The DCEU’s Barry Allen hasn’t really become the Flash we all know and love from the comics. Sure, he has the powers, but Ezra Miller’s Flash is still a rookie when compared to the experienced Flash on the CW. This aspect was presented in the recent Justice League movie. Indeed, both of these versions of the Flash are immensely different from each other and this meme hysterically captures those differences.
One of the most memorable Flash scenes in Justice League was when Barry accepted Batman’s invitation to form part of the team since he needed friends. While Miller’s Flash might be getting a new suit from the Caped Crusader, Gustin’s Flash is getting back up from a wide array of friends. Yeah, that’s rough.
The Arrowverse Needs Batman
A lot of bad things happen to the members of the Arrowverse. That’s just how television goes. One day Oliver and Felicity are about to get married, the next day Felicity gets paralyzed from the waist down. Sometimes the sequence of events is reversed, but bad things happen nonetheless. As this meme perfectly implies, if the Arrowverse had Batman on their side of the multiverse, a lot of problems would go away. Why? Well, because he is Batman.
Maybe Savitar wouldn’t have killed Harry and our favorite Wells would still be alive. And maybe Prometheus wouldn’t have destroyed Lian Yu, subsequently killing Oliver’s son’s mother. It’s about time the Arrowverse formally introduce Bruce Wayne, the real Batman. But alas, one can only wish.
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Which was your favorite DCEU vs Arrowverse meme? Let us know in the comments.
