It was a packed house last night at a special Los Angeles screening for the crossover episodes between The Flash and Arrow that are set to air on December 2 and December 3, respectively, on The CW.
In addition to crew members and guest stars from the shows in the audience, many of the cast and producers from the crossover did a special Q&A session after the episodes were screened. In attendance were series leads Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin; actors Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey, Carlos Valdes, and Danielle Panabaker; and Executive Producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Marc Guggenheim.
Greg Berlanti credits “the great joy” of “building the universe of it all” was one of the first things they talked about when pitching both seasons to The CW network. “We said we know it’s typical for these kind of shows to have to stand on their own, and usually they don’t do the crossovers ’til later, with the spin-off and the original show, but since these are borne out of DC Comics, we felt like we owed it to ourselves, and to the fans, and to everyone, to do them sooner rather than later,” Berlanti explained.
Having a crossover allowed the opportunity to solve some fan arguments, over a year before we get to solve the Superman vs. Batman debate on the big screen. As such, the show has arguments between Diggle and Felicity with Caitlin and Cisco over who would win in a fight – The Flash or The Arrow. “It was one of the earliest things that we talked about. I mean, we’re all fans and we’ve all sat around and wondered ‘who would win the fight, Superman or Batman? The Hulk or Wolverine?’ So, the idea that they would fight each other in one of these episodes, was one of our earliest ideas, and that the cast members would have that Comic-Con argument on camera was [also] one of our earliest ideas,” Andrew Kreisberg said.
“For my money, what I love about the crossover is that it gives you the best of both worlds. We have our cake and we eat it too. On The Flash, you actually get to see Flash vs. Arrow; and on Arrow, you actually get to see the two heroes team up. So those are the two things that, as a comic book fan, I always wanted to see. I always wanted to see them fight, but I also wanted to see them getting along and working to stop the bad guy, and we got a chance to do both,” Marc Guggenheim added.
So who would win in a fight? The reaction on stage seemed unanimous. “Diggle would win,” someone said, prompting a round of applause for David Ramsey.
Flash “Flash vs. Arrow” and Arrow “The Brave and the Bold” air December 2 and 3 on The CW. See some photos below:
KSiteTV Editor-In-Chief Craig Byrne has been writing about TV on the internet since 1995. He is also the author of several published books, including Smallville: The Visual Guide and the show's Official Companions for Seasons 4-7.
