Currently there are three DC superhero shows on TV, all big hits in the form of Arrow, The Flash and Gotham. Another one is coming, a Supergirl TV series heading to CBS, though I remain convinced that somehow it will end up on the CW when all is said and done (remember CBS owns the CW).
There were rumors of a proposed Wonder Woman show on the CW, but that was cancelled before it made it to a pilot (unlike NBC’s Wonder Woman show which had a pilot, and nothing more), and I’m sure it won’t be long until we’re hearing about a potential Green Lantern, Aquaman or Martian Manhunter TV show.
And yet, what I’m wondering is when people will finally agree on how to bring Superman back to TV.
You know they want to. Superman is arguably the most iconic hero of all time (though Batman has been giving him a run for his money lately), and it’s hard to simply have him sit on the sidelines as everyone on earth including his cousin Kara is getting their own TV shows.
Before you say what I know you’re about to say, no, I am not an idiot. I understand that Superman has been well-covered in regard to TV, and his show, Smallville, essentially paved the way for the CW hits of today.
Smallville ran for ten years, which is a huge accomplishment by any metrics. The show dipped into crazy territory more than once, and lost two of its three major characters over the years due to the actors simply getting tired of the show (Lex and Lana) but its legacy stands immortal and it’s a prime example of how to get superhero TV right (most of the time, anyway).
But we live in an age of reboots, and that surely applies to Clark Kent as well. There is going to be a way to bring Superman back to TV, but I have an idea how to make it work without effectively repeating Smallville.
It’s all about the universe. Marvel has succeeded because it has created a vast, interconnected universe that spans both TV and film (mostly film). DC is about to try and at least do that with a huge slate of upcoming connected movies, but for now, their TV plans remain separate with no indication they will incorporate shows like Arrow and The Flash into their film universe. In The Flash’s case, that role has already been recast for an upcoming film.
Whatever, that’s fine. I’m totally okay with that, and they don’t need to copy Marvel to the letter. But I think they should continue to expand their TV universe as a separate entity. That means integrating the upcoming Supergirl into Arrow and the Flash, and yes, developing that “Amazon” Wonder Woman show at last with someone capable at the helm, and starring someone worthy of the part.
But rather than make an entirely new Superman show in the vein of Lois and Clark or Smallville: The Later Years, I feel like it would be cool to simply incorporate Clark Kent as a fixture into all these other shared universe DC shows a kind of connecting thread.
This new era Clark Kent would probably have to make his debut as something of a supporting character in Supergirl, as I’m not sure how that show can even exist without referencing Clark Kent or Superman at all (Oh, he’s off in space doing something in the something quadrant!). Then from there, we would see him traverse all the DC universes from Arrow to The Flash, stopping by for an episode arc from time to time, which would also work in a potential Wonder Woman show as well. He would not be a regular on any of these shows, but when the situation called for it, he would be there. This would also be kind of funny because Arrow now stars Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh as The Atom.
The only show this really wouldn’t work in would be Gotham, because that show is already very much disconnected from Arrow and The Flash both in concept and in timeline as a prequel. I suppose Gotham could exist in the same universe as Arrow and The Flash, but the fact that it’s set so long ago means it can’t overlap with either in any meaningful way. Though I suppose with time travel being pretty key to The Flash, it’s not impossible. Well, getting The CW and FOX to work together might be impossible.
But still, I do rather like the idea of using Clark as a connecting thread rather than giving him his own primetime series outright. This requires DC to expand on their Arrow/Flash universe even further, but given how successful both have been, I think that’s the direction they should go.
[Photos via DC and CW]
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