You have to give the credit where it is due that is CW’s Arrowverse built over the years.
It all started with the show CW’s Arrow featuring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen becoming the Green Arrow and coming to Star City inviting other masked vigilantes and villains as well.
Then, the bubble exploded to more characters opening the first doors to a new character Barry Allen, as a back-door pilot for the spin-off titled The Flash, and that further expanded the universe more on the superpowers and meta-human part.
Other shows like Supergirl and Black Lightning were brought to this universe later, the latter one was almost to the end while the Crisis on Infinite Earth crossover.
Arrowverse crossovers have become a yearly thing, getting larger and larger over the years with the last one being the biggest crossover so far.
This crossover actually brought the multiverse concept into the Arrowverse allowing them to merge most DC properties as part of Arrowverse or at least interact with it.
So much so, that DCEU’s Flash also had a cameo in the Arrowverse crossover, interacting with Grant Gustin’s Flash which was such a trip for fans.
Now after Arrow ended along with other shows like Supergirl and Black Lightning, it is great to look back and rank these shows from worst to best.
We will be ranking these shows on their overall merit, ratings, popularity, and surely some biases on the entertainment levels. Isn’t that fun of ranking in the first place? Also, mind you as we are including all the shows that become part of the Arrowverse in the final crossover Crisis on the Infinite Earths.
Batwoman
Batwoman was unarguably the most underwhelming CW Arrowverse show.
When for the first time, Kate Kane aka Batwoman was introduced in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” episode, fans were excited to see her full-fledged in a solo show of hers only.
But with the pilot released for the CW’s Batwoman was not very compelling, however, we did go with it and let the story unfolds as we see Kate Kane becoming the caped crusader and taking the mantle of Batman in Gotham after he gets missing.
Even though the season does pick up things midway, and the show gets somewhat interesting, it is way behind in terms of effectiveness and cohesive story, memorable characters, and powerful villains as shown in other Arrowverse shows.
Season two made it even worse with a huge change as Ruby Rose, the actor who plays Kate Kane departed from the show.
Javicia Leslie stepped into becoming the next Batwoman playing the character of Ryan Wilder, exploring different dynamics in the show with the first episode named “What Happened To Kate Kane?”. Well, given that show ranked the lowest in history ie. 4.3, apparently, it seemed nobody cared.
The good news is the show did get improved by getting more scores than 6 but it is way behind the other counterpart shows which have a dedicated fan base.
Constantine
Constantine is a show that didn’t actually go well before becoming part of The CW”s collection of Arrowverse series.
When the show was initially aired on NBC, it wasn’t part of the Arrowverse. Apparently, the show wasn’t a good match for the network audience and ended up being canceled just within the first season.
The show already had one season to tell the story and didn’t get any further. On top of that, NBC straight away canceled the show.
The CW picked up the show and brought back the character, first in animated series on their streaming service CW Seed with Matt Ryan playing the voice of the character John Constantine.
Even though fans loved the character, and especially the performance by Matt Ryan, the show still didn’t succeed.
Finally, the CW made the right call to just use the character and brought him to join the case of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow which then became a crucial member and worked out really well.
Stargirl
The CW’s much later addition to the Arrowverse and in fact, premiered after the release of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
However, since the makers wanted to include the series in the Arrowverse, so even before the premiere, the audience was able to see a tiny glimpse of Stargirl and her associate characters in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.
However, Stargirl just by herself has already appeared in three episodes of Legends of Tomorrow.
The show was first aired on the DC Universe streaming platform and later became the sixth DC series to get onto The CW channel.
Stargirl is already out with two seasons with the first one certainly way better than the second one. The show overall received mixed reviews from critics as well as the audience.
The Stargirl universe is shown to be Earth-2 in the Arrowverse multiverse. The show features actors like Brec Brassinger, Luke Wilson, Amy Smart, Yvette Monreal, and Anjelika Washington.
The Freedom Fighters: The Ray
It was 2017 when The CW released their animated series with a connection to Arrowverse called Freedom Fighters: The Ray which went on streaming on their streaming platform CW Seed.
There was not much attention given to this show from the critics, especially not paid any heed from Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb critics.
But fans did enjoy the animated series, but, not much so like it as it was given a low rating of 54 percent on the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The events in the series take place on Earth-2 which is a parallel universe to the primary Arrowverse shows like Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl.
It primarily focuses on Ray Terrill, a guy with powers of light after discovering another version of himself on another Earth.
The show went on to continue for two seasons with a total of 12 episodes.
Vixen
Vixen is another Arrowverse animated series that was able to get more attention than at least the Freedom Fighters: The Ray one.
However, this one too didn’t get much popularity or even reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, not even enough to receive an RT score.
However, Arrowverse fans who watched the show seem to like it as on RT, there is a 75 percent approval rating for the audience score.
Just like The Ray, this one also lasted 12 episodes on the CW’s streaming service CW Seed. The events in the show were set in the same universe as other animated shows.
In fact, all the actors from The Arrowverse actually voiced their animated characters here, so definitely interesting to give it a watch.
The show surrounds the titular character Vixen where other animated characters like Arrow and The Flash help her gain the powers of the animal kingdom and fight crime.
Smallville
Smallville was the DC TV show that ran so long with such popularity as today with Arrowverse shows.
The show was almost to its end when Arrow was planned to air on The CW and planned not to be part of Smallville, entirely different from that show or else we might be watching a Smallville-verse today instead of Arrowverse.
Because Smallville does have its own Green Arrow, Supergirl, Superman, and a lot of other characters who are also crucial parts of Arrowverse.
Anyways the show was highly successful but definitely wasn’t part of Arrowverse until it was brought in like many other shows and movies during the Crisis On Infinite Earths event.
Lois Lane and Iris West-Allen came to Earth-167 during this epic crossover to find Superman in this universe who apparently is at the farm in Smallville.
Surprisingly, he turns out to be Tom Welling’s Clark Kent from Smallville show who chose to lose his powers and become human leading a simple life.
Lucifer
Very few people knew that Lucifer was brought by DC Universe and definitely far from any shared universe that anyone can expect.
The show is about Lucifer Morningstar, the devil or the fallen angel who takes a sabbatical from hell from punishing people and set his life as a Club Owner in Los Angeles.
He gets involved in a murder and helped Detective Chloe Decker to solve the crime and after, he becomes a crime consultant for LAPD solving crimes with Chloe while also developing a romantic relationship with her.
Completely a TV show before it was canceled and brought back to Netflix for the last two seasons leading to the season finale.
But another surprise is the Arrowverse crossover event where he has a proper cameo in the show.
Apparently, John Constantine knows the devil and now when you think about it makes sense to come to ask him a favor along with Mia Queen to get Oliver Queen’s soul after he died.
Doom Patrol
Another DC Universe Exclusive series that get wrapped up into the Arrowverse during the event of the Crisis finale where the members of Doom Patrol are shown briefly.
Doom Patrol is a show that was well-received by the audience as well as the critics with a unique stylistic beat to it.
There are two seasons to this show where it is set to be on Earth-21 featuring actors like Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, April Bowlby, Jovian Wade, and Diana Guerro.
Black Lightning
Black Lightning wasn’t an official part of the Arrowverse until it was made to while the last biggest Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.
The show premiered in 2017 with well-received reviews from critics as well as the audience. In fact, it was quite celebrated amongst critics for so well representing the Black community struggle through a superhero story.
Also, it was also refreshing to see a Black superhero on the TV screen but more than that, it was good because it wasn’t too much propagandish about it , but rather more realistic and grounded in its world.
The show becomes more than Jefferson Pierce fighting for his community as a superhero and as a teacher, over the seasons, it also becomes a lot about his family, and his super-abled teenage children as well.
Black Lightning has been really consistent in its quality for storytelling with its compelling supporting characters pulled by great performances. The fourth season of the show is going to be the final season.
Titans
Titans is the show released as a DC Universe Streaming exclusive which later became part of Arrowverse.
However, it is simply recognizing and addressing the Titan’s world existing in a parallel universe during the Arrowverse Crossover event Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Just like Earth-66, this world was seen in a brief time when Anti-Monitor was destroying the multiverse during the finale. Then, later it was seen to re-establish in the multiverse.
Titans world is marked as to be on Earth-9 in the arrowverse. There are three seasons of the show that you can watch on Netflix as well as on the DC Universe Streaming service as well.
Supergirl
Supergirl wasn’t expected to become part of Arrowverse but it did, which was a quite pleasant surprise.
It originally premiered on CBS in 2015 and wasn’t going to be part of any cinematic universe but the end of the first season.
Barry Allen aka The Flash showed up creating a crossover of not just these two shows but also across two networks.
Then, the show was moved to The CW and very well-connected with Arrowverse, also becoming a consistent guest in the crossovers.
Supergirl as a show worked for many reasons but it has to be Mellissa Benoist and other cast members who are playing their characters so great, the show becomes really entertaining to follow up.
The show follows the story of Kryptonian Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Superman who lands up on Earth just like her brother, is raised on the planet, and ends up becoming Supergirl to protect National City.
When this show was on CBS, it was accounted to be bringing the largest audience ever, however, the rating of the show grew on IMDb when it was moved to The CW.
Supergirl as a show also becomes essential for introducing her cousin brother Clark Kent aka Superman into the Arrowverse along with Lois Lane, eventually getting their own spin-off show Superman and Lois.
The Flash
The Flash was the first spin-off of the Arrowverse which had a back-door pilot, basically, an additional pilot added to a show known to be the highest-rated and most-watched episode since The Vampire Diaries in 2009.
The show features Bary Allen played by Grant Gustin, a CSI forensic expert struck by lightning that gave him superpowers, becoming the fastest man alive.
Apart from saving the city from other metas who gained their power from the same energy surge that came from the arc reactor that gave him powers, he also tries to find the one who killed her mother under mysterious circumstances.
The Flash was a show which wasn’t consistent in its quality and in fact, was grossly criticized for getting worse and worse over the seasons after a point.
However, the earlier seasons of the show were simply brilliant and well-written as well, especially the very first season.
Flash is another major player in the Arrowverse apart from Green Arrow himself and the show also becomes the source for another Arrowverse spin-off, the third one which is Legends of Tomorrow which literally picks up characters from Arrow and Flash to make another show out of it.
The show also became the center stage for metahumans in this universe, also was the one to interact with Supergirl and bring her character into Arroverse and also projected massive crossover events.
As mentioned earlier, the show became a downfall after a while but before that, it was definitely brilliant with some great high points throughout the earlier seasons.
The show started falling out after season 3 whereas the fourth one had mixed reviews. Overall the dynamics between the Team Flash members that are Barry Allen, Iris West Allen, Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon were adored till now.
Superman And Lois
According to IMDb, Superman and Lois is the highest-rated Arrowverse show with a whopping 7.9 ratings, and rightly so!
We didn’t put this one on #1 due to other factors that made us enjoy The Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow more.
Arrow is on the top because the whole Arrowverse is built on this show with such memorable characters and comparatively consistent in quality (especially for a show that ran this long).
Moreover, Legends of Tomorrow, simply being such a fun ride and being so true to itself and that too unapologetically, definitely deserves the second position in our rankings.
Well, more to tell these two in further sections, getting back to Superman and Lois, is all about Superman and Lois settling together in Smallville balancing their life as parents and protecting the people as well.
DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is so far the weirdest and craziest show on the Arrowverse and also amongst any other superhero TV shows out there.
This is officially a spin-off from the Arrowverse universe, bringing characters we already met and know from the shows like Arrow and The Flash to go for another crazy journey.
It made its debut in 2016, bringing characters from the shows, and putting them together as a team who travels through time to stop an immortal enemy.
Initially, the show brought Sara Lance, Mick Rory, Leonard Snart, Ray Palmer, Dr. Stein, and Jefferson and introduced a new character named Rip Hunter who is a time master from the future.
So, apparently, in the future, an Immortal ruler named Vandal Savage takes over the world and ends up killing Rip hunter’s family, so he wants to go back in time and save his family, and also prevent the takeover.
He brought all of these individuals because they have no impact on time as they are not significant enough which felt the same for the audience at that time.
But as they start their journey traveling through multiple timelines through history, entering different eras, and even bringing new characters into the team, the show becomes such a wild ride.
We really enjoyed every season of this show even though a few episodes or some seasons might feel like a letdown. Also, in the beginning, it took time to find its style and be confident with what they are trying to do.
There are episodes in the show that goes beyond Arrowverse’s current reality, giving a nod to comics and different possibilities, such as “Star City 2046”, “Here I Go Again”, “Legends of To-Meow-Meow” and “Aruba”.
So much experimentation and creativity go into every episode and season plotting of this show, making you always look forward and excited.
And the same bunch who were introduced as insignificant in the show become such loving character to follow especially Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, John Constantine, Nathan Haywood, and more.
According to us, this show ranked second more on the lines of how fun, adventurous, and entertaining was to watch this, and also the consistency of it through the seasons if you ignore some hiccups along the way.
The Arrow
The show that started it all! It has to be ranked #1 and there is more than this one reason for that.
It is so surprising to know now that the show was initially created to exist on its own, completely outside of any reference to earlier releases and the recently-ended DC show Smallville which also had its own Green Arrow.
CW’s The Arrow quickly become not just one of the highest-rated CW shows but also a fan-favorite in the next five years establishing a strong Arrow fan base.
The Arrow is hands-down the best Arrowverse show because it was good enough to become a jump pad for other shows to start eventually leading to its own universe.
With the first spin-off show, The Flash, and the crossover between them The Flash vs Arrow was only the start of this expansive mini DC universe.
And then, there was no stopping, more and more shows were brought to this universe, some directly and others later on.
Stephen Amell played Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow brilliantly and memorably, which is very hard to replace.
The show was ended after eight seasons with a mega cross-over event at the footnote of what can be called the end of an era for Arrowverse, as the primary show ended itself.
At that time, the show aired, there was no better superhero show on television. It has everything you can expect, all gritty, with twists and turns, the best characters, and some great action too.
Some storylines in the show were such a high for DC fans or Arrow fans like the Slade Wilson storyline or the one with Ra’s al ghoul.
There was indeed a great pack of villains, of all sorts with different characteristics ranging from Malcolm Merlyn to Diaz, always challenging Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow and his team.
The show even end up introducing Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey for television which wasn’t likely to happen on the big screen at that time.
There was certainly a little down in the show after season 3 being so hyped but then it soon picked up with Season 5.
Even though the show wasn’t as good as at the time it begin to at the time when it was near ending, the consistency is still pretty good.
Having said that, the final season, the 10 episodes in the eighth season was a solid ending to the show.
Featured Image Source: EW