Figuring out the Arrowverse can be a daunting task, especially if you’re discovering it for the first time. What show should you watch first? Why is it called the Arrowverse? If you’ve seen Supergirl, where do you start with The Flash or Arrow? What about the time travelers from Legends of Tomorrow, where do they fit in? As an avid fans of the Arrowverse (we’ve been watching since the Arrow pilot debuted in 2012) we’re here to help you navigate the whos, whats, wheres, and whens of the Arrowverse timeline.
Start with Arrow
The best place to start your journey into the Arrowverse is with Arrow. We only have the Arrowverse because of this show, hence the name the ARROWverse. Arrow premiered on October 10, 2012. The pilot episode featured a bearded Oliver Queen being rescued from a deserted island. Stephen Amell, who plays the title character, opened the episode with his character’s voice over. It was a chilling narrative laid over a dark story of rescue and revenge. The episode set up Oliver’s quest. It introduced “the list.” It showed how Oliver’s father, Robert, died and how Oliver intended to right his father’s wrongs. If it wasn’t for this episode, we wouldn’t have The Flash. We wouldn’t have Supergirl. We wouldn’t have Legends of Tomorrow.
The success of Arrow‘s first season gave it a second, which led to the idea of a spin-off. While the writers and producers of Arrow were crafting their second season, they were also looking into a way of introducing Barry Allen — the titular hero of The Flash comics. Rumors began to swirl that Barry had been cast and that his show would be getting a “backdoor pilot” on Arrow. On the night of December 4, 2013, Grant Gustin (Glee) made his Arrowverse debut in the two-part episode “The Scientist.” Grant’s portrayal of Barry Allen as a lighthearted, optimistic, and clumsy know-it-all was captivating. In the episode and it’s second part, “Three Ghosts,” Barry discovered Oliver’s secret identity as the Hood/Green Arrow and saved his life. Barry made Oliver his mask and became a pseudo part of the Arrow team. When Barry went back home, a lightning bolt hits his room and the screen went black. The groundwork for a superhero origin story was laid perfectly. Then, the success of those episodes green-lit the spin-off and The Flash was a go!
Next, Watch The Flash
By October of 2014, The CW now had two superhero shows on air: Arrow and The Flash. While Arrow was heading into its third season, The Flash was heading into its first. The first episode of The Flash began in a similar way to Arrow, with Barry’s voice over. As if speaking from the clouds, Barry narrated his journey, which started 14 years ago, on the night of his mother’s murder. The show then jumped to the night of Arrow‘s “Three Ghosts,” where Barry got hit by lightning. The episode then flash-forwarded to nine months later, when Barry woke up from a coma. From there, Arrow and The Flash’s timelines ran concurrently and continue to do so even now.
The Flash‘s first season focused on Barry’s quest to solve his mother’s murder. He also learned how to use his powers and became friends with the science team at S.T.A.R. Labs. It’s during The Flash Season 1 that we got our first official Flash/Arrow crossover. The event was promoted as “The Flash vs. Arrow” and was set up as a two-night crossover, with the first episode airing on The Flash and the second episode, “The Brave and the Bold” airing on Arrow. Oliver and Barry were forced to fight each other by the Rainbow Raider, they then teamed-up to take him and Boomerang down. The crossover was a ratings hit and the network started work on replicating the magic with not one, but two new series with crossover potential.
Then Watch Legends of Tomorrow
Here’s where the timeline gets a little crazy. In the Spring of 2015, while Arrow and The Flash were wrapping up their current seasons, The CW ordered a third show, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Then, The CW’s sister network, CBS, ordered their own superhero show, Supergirl. The plan was to launch Supergirl‘s first season with Arrow‘s fourth and The Flash‘s second. Since Supergirl was on a different network and filming in Los Angeles and not Vancouver, there were no plans to cross Supergirl over with The CW shows. Legends of Tomorrow, however, was set to get the same treatment as The Flash: get a backdoor pilot during a fall crossover episode. So, if you’ve been keeping track, your watching order should be as follows: Arrow Season 1, then Arrow Season 2, then Arrow Season 3 and The Flash Season 1 at the same time, then, watch Arrow Season 4, The Flash Season 2 and Supergirl Season 1 at the same time.
If you’ve done this (or plan to) you should have already met some of the characters who will be leading Legends of Tomorrow. For instance, Leonard Snart/Captain Cold and Mick Rory/Heat Wave. These characters were introduced in The Flash‘s first season, in the episodes “Going Rogue” and “Revenge of the Rogues.” These two characters join the crew of the Waverider and become main cast members on Legends of Tomorrow. By now you should have also met Professor Martin Stein, one-half of the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. matrix. Stein also makes the transition from The Flash to Legends, along with his partner Jefferson Jackson. Two characters from Arrow also make the jump to Legends — two dead characters. Up to this point in our viewing timeline, both Sara Lance and Ray Palmer are dead. Sara was killed by (redacted) and Ray was killed in an explosion. As you start to watch Arrow Season 4, both of these characters experience a resurrection. I won’t spoil how, but it’s very cool. Both Sara and Ray join the cast of Legends, which only leaves the Hawk family and Rip Hunter.
Keeping Up with the Crossovers
As I mentioned above, the plan was to give Legends of Tomorrow a backdoor pilot during the annual Flash/Arrow crossover. Enter Kendra Saunders AKA Hawkgirl. In The Flash Season 2 episode “The Darkness and the Light,” Cisco falls for a barista who works at Jitters named Kendra. Kendra’s storyline brings together the second Flarrow crossover, which took place in the Fall of 2015. The crossover kicked off on The Flash, during the episode “Legends of Today.” When a knife-wielding baddie named Vandal Savage tried to kill Kendra, Team Flash called upon Team Arrow to help keep her safe. The crossover resumed in the Arrow episode “Legends of Yesterday,” where Kendra got her Hawk memories back and reunited with the love of her life, Carter Hall/Hawkman. The team successfully defeated Vandal Savage at the end of the crossover, unfortunately Savage’s ashes were saved so he could be brought back for the first season of Legends.
So, you’re watching Arrow Season 4. You’re watching The Flash Season 2. You’re watching these crossovers and then the mid-season finales. When both shows returned in the Spring of 2016 for the rest of their respective seasons, Legends of Tomorrow kicked off. During Legends Season 1, a time traveler named Rip Hunter recruited Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Jefferson Jackson, Martin Stein, and the Hawk people to track Vandal Savage down throughout time and kill him. Legends Season 1 wrapped the same time as Arrow Season 4 and The Flash Season 2.
Time to Fly with Supergirl
While you are (or were) watching those seasons of shows, you can also watch Supergirl‘s first season. While it technically takes place at the same time as the other shows, it takes place in a different dimension. This was explained in the one crossover episode Supergirl DID have with a character from The CW shows in the Season 1 Supergirl episode “World’s Finest.” In the episode, Barry accidentally ran into Kara’s dimension. They ate lots of ice cream and had crazy fun while taking down both Live Wire and Banshee. Then Barry returned to his Earth, Earth-1, and that was it for crossovers on Supergirl. At least, that was supposed to be it. Flashfoward to the summer of 2016. Arrow Season 4 had ended, The Flash Season 2 had ended, Legends and Supergirl had both wrapped their first seasons. No new shows were being planned and all was quiet on the superhero front. That was, until CBS decided to move Supergirl to The CW and move production to Vancouver. The one thing that was standing in the way of making Supergirl a part of the crossover family moved out of the way. Huzzah!
The Crossovers Continue!
That brings us to last season, Fall of 2016 and the Spring of 2017. If you’re keeping track, you would now be watching Supergirl Season 2, Legends of Tomorrow Season 2, The Flash Season 3, and Arrow Season 5. Two crossovers were staged during this season. First, a three-night crossover was announced between Arrow, Flash, and Legends. The crossover would not happen ON Supergirl, but Supergirl herself would be able to join the festivities. This three-night crossover was called “Invasion!” and aired on The Flash, then Arrow, then Legends in a perfect three-night crossover. Kara was able to fly over from her Earth through a breach and she helped fight off the invading Dominator aliens.
Another multi-show crossover was staged on The Flash, in the Season 3 episode titled “Duet.” This was a special, one-night musical events. The music and lyrics were written by the Academy Award winning La La Land duo, composer Blake Neely, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator Rachel Bloom. The episode featured Barry, Kara, Cisco, Winn, Iris, Mon-El, Malcolm Merlyn and Martin Stein. The cast sang and danced beautifully. It was truly an episode to remember.
Crisis on Earth-X
That brings us to the last crossover. “Crisis on Earth-X” took place during the Fall of 2017 and featured key characters from all four shows. The episode centered around Barry and Iris’ wedding, which was crashed by evil versions of the Arrowverse heroes. After the crossover episode, each show continued with their own storylines.
In addition to all of the official crossover episodes and seasons, there are also a great deal of single-character crossover episodes. Like when Sara visits Laurel in a different time, when Felicity travels to Central City to get help from Team Flash, or when Supergirl needs help from The Flash. All of those episodes, including some of the animated Vixen crossover episodes, can be found here.
2018 and Beyond
As of Spring 2018, Arrow wrapped its sixth season with a massive cliffhanger, with Oliver going to jail for being the Green Arrow. The Flash concluded its fourth season with the birth of Joe and Cecile’s daughter and the surprise arrival of Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future.
Legends of Tomorrow completed its third season by defeating Mallus and opening the world to the realm of magic. Supergirl rounded out Season 3 by introducing a new, darker version of Kara. As of Spring 2018, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, and The Flash have all been renewed, which means we’ll be getting brand new seasons in the Fall of 2018. Supergirl will air Sundays at 8PM. Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow will air back-t0-back on Mondays at 8PM and 9PM. The Flash will air on Tuesdays at 8PM.
The CW will also host another epic crossover this Fall which will introduce the heroine Batwoman. John Wick actress Ruby Rose will play the caped crusader Kate Kain, who will get her own series after the crossover.
