The next Arrowverse crossover is being delayed, and will feature fewer superheroes.
On the heels of The CW effectively delaying its scripted slate until January 2021, it has been announced that the latest Arrowverse crossover will hit the air in 2021.
This news is not entirely surprising, with CW overlord Mark Pedowitz announcing that instead of airing in December, the next crossover will arrive in the first or second quarter of 2021.
2020’s crossover may have been a wild superhero-filled five-hour spectacular, but the next special will be much smaller in scale, and size.
“It will be a smaller event than usual,” Pedowitz shared. “We’re only planning a two-hour event. We’re talking about doing Superman [& Lois] and Batwoman together, with a lot of characters coming [in] from our other shows.”
Instead of splitting the episodes up, the latest edition is set to appear on a Sunday in a two-hour block, Pedowitz added.
Given that the coronavirus pandemic has brought the TV industry to a halt, we can only imagine that another five-show crossover would be a logistical nightmare.
This could be the shape of things to come on the small screen as social distancing measures are set to stick around for quite some time yet.
With Batwoman and Superman & Lois not slated to return to the air until January 2021, it makes sense that the crossover would be later than usual.
The network is clearly taking a cautious approach to announcing premiere dates. CW dramas typically return to production in July for October launches, but even if these shows do enter production at that time, it’s likely that filming of episodes would take much longer.
Social distancing measures will likely require less people around the set at any one time. Still, it’s possible that some shows could return earlier if they are ahead of schedule.
The CW is filling the fall line-up with The Outpost, Pandora, and acquisitions, Tell Me a Story, The Coroner, Swamp Thing, and Dead Pixels.
Pandora and The Outpost typically air as part of the network’s summer schedule, but neither show managed to finish production.
It’s unclear whether the network plans on bringing them back when they return to production, or if fans will be getting incomplete seasons.
A lot is up in the air at this stage.
But it’s nice to know the network is taking some measures to make sure there will be some original content in the fall.
Tell Me a Story and Swamp Thing are two great series.
What do you think of the crossover being scaled back?
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.