ARROW Producer Talks THE FLASH And The Potential For A Shared DC Universe
One of the biggest pieces of geek news to come out of TCA was that the Arrow producers were going to bring Barry Allen’s Flash into the series and then spin him off into his own show. And there were big questions after the announcement. Is this part of a larger DC Cinematic Universe? Or is it simply part of the CW’s we-know-what-the-hell-we’re-doing-verse?
In talking with Comic Book Resources, Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim shed some light on his vision and comparisons to the Marvel-verse, at least for the small screen world:
“I think a lot of people are justified in asking ‘What does this mean for Arrow in terms of its tone?’ And my answer is that the trick that we have – and this is a challenge we’ve discusses a lot and have an awareness of how to face it head on – is the fact that ‘Arrow’ is like ‘Iron Man’ where The Flash will be The Hulk. And just as The Hulk coming out did not change the tone of the Iron Man movies, The Flash will not change the tone of Arrow. We’re very cognizant of what Arrow is all about, and I think the Marvel movies demonstrate that each piece of a universe can have its own feel. Thor is consistent with the tone of Thor while Captain America is consistent with the tone of Captain America’s character. Arrow‘s tone will remain consistent much in the same way, and we are looking forward to expanding our canvass a bit. And judging from the announcement, I think the fans are looking forward to it as well.”
It’s no surprise that someone in the DC world is actually thinking the way Marvel thinks. (Someone has to, right?) And most people has always preferred DC’s small screen adaptation, both animated and live action, compared to the big screen versions. Even Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series is more engaging than Nolan’s work. So a small screen expansion makes the most sense. It’s so obvious that The Flash series shouldn’t have surprised anyone. (Well, except for the whole vision thing. That’s always surprising from WB.)
DC is a whole different beast, when it comes to character development. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, whoever. Compared to Marvel heroes, they are much more psychologically complex characters. They know drama. Marvel, on the other hand, is very much more science fiction-driven, which means there’s little time for serious brooding. DC needs episodes and season to build their characters; Marvel just needs a couple hours.
Of course, Marc Guggenhiem’s quote here may refer to crossovers into cinema:
“Honestly, I’m just excited to help be a part of expanding the DC Universe,” he said. “I think one of the big thing that appeals to me about comics in general is the idea of the shared universe. It’s a lot of fun to be able to do that in television, and growing up one of the things I enjoyed was the Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman and the way those two shows would interact with each other. We’re at least a season away from Arrow interacting with The Flash, but the potential for that is really exciting for me.”
When he says “part of expanding the DC Universe” does he mean as a team on TV alone? Or does he mean as the TV section of a larger world? I’m guessing the former, but one can dream.
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