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DCTV: New ‘Arrow’ Season 5 Trailer — How Will The Flashpoint Change ‘Arrow,’ ‘The Flash,’ ‘LOT,’ And ‘Supergirl’?

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 08:47 PST, Aug 25, 2016

As Season 2 of The Flash on the CW ended in May, all sorts of questions were raised about how the Flashpoint would affect not only Barry Allen and his friends in Central City, but how it might also impact shows like Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. All four DC Comics-based shows will be airing on the CW in October, and the Flash has made at least one appearance in every show. While Barry’s actions in the season finale will undoubtedly have major consequences for The Flash, DCTV fans are waiting to find out just how the events will impact the other shows that make up the CW’s Arrowverse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVRM5PdwEdA

Just today, a new trailer was released for the Season 5 premiere of Arrow. There’s a lot we know about the upcoming season of Arrow, but we still don’t know just how the Flashpoint will impact Star City.

What Is A “Flashpoint”?

Everyone knows that the Flash has the metahuman gift of speed. As the crossover episode with Supergirl showed, even Kryptonians have a hard time keeping up with him. Thanks to his speed — and a dedicated team of scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs — Barry discovered that he could not only traverse from one universe to another, but that he could also travel backwards in time. However, as is always the case in cinematic time travel — from Back to the Future to The Butterfly Effect — even the slightest change in the past can have giant ramifications for the present and future. It was the murder of his mother than inspired the Flash to become a superhero. At the end of Season 2, he traveled back in time to save his mother, knowing full well that it would result in a Flashpoint that would have untold consequences.

This is by no means a new concept in the DC Universe. Currently available on Netflix is the animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. In that cartoon (spoiler alert!), after Barry’s mother has been resurrected, Barry Allen finds himself in a new reality where no one has ever heard of the Flash. Aquaman and the Atlanteans are in a war with Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Batman is actually Thomas Wayne (Bruce died as a child, so his dad became the vigilante), Cyborg works for the federal government, and Hal Jordan has been tasked to destroy Aquaman’s forces with alien weapons.

While that animated film was released in 2013, DC Comics just introduced DC Universe: Rebirth for its avid readers. As previously reported at the Inquisitr, this comic book set up more than 20 new Rebirth titles, relaunching everything from Suicide Squad and Superman to Hellblazer and the Blue Beetle. As Barry’s actions — as well as a few other events that would be spoilers if revealed here — cause a Flashpoint, and every character in the DC Universe is impacted. Given the heavy crossover history between The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, fans are obviously curious as to if and how the Flashpoint will impact the other shows.

Since Barry made one trip to National City in Supergirl’s universe, will there be any ripple effects felt by Kara and her friends? Also, the conclusion to DC Universe: Rebirth indicates that the Flashpoint really does seem to impact everyone in the DC Universe. It should be noted that the CW also airs iZombie, which is based on a comic book of the same name published by DC Comics.

Season 3 Of The Flash

Again, as Season 2 of The Flash ended, Barry went back in time to save his mother. The trailer that the CW released for the upcoming season doesn’t give viewers too much information. As expected, the Flash has caused some unexpected changes. While it appears that Barry prevented his father from ever going to jail, Cisco Ramon has become very rich — and seemingly self-involved. We also see a new hooded villain in the clip, which TV Line reports is like Dr. Alchemy. It has also been confirmed that Season 3 will introduce the Rival, Mirror Master, and Savitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRvukxp1VQg

Season 5 Of Arrow

In July, a “first-look” trailer was released at Comic-Con for Season 5 of Arrow. In that trailer, viewers learned that Oliver Queen would be assembling a new team of superheroes to help protect Star City, which includes Wild Dog, Vigilante, and Evelyn Sharp. As noted by Coming Soon, the next season of Arrow will also include appearances from DC Comics characters Prometheus, Tobias Church, Ragman, and Human Target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz_8o2gw2BY

Executive Producer of Arrow Wendy Mericle told IGN that exactly how the Flashpoint will impact Arrow hasn’t been completely worked out just yet.

“Flashpoint provides an interesting jumping off point for all the shows this year, in that we have this reset button available to us if we want it. We’ve landed on a few things, but the door is open. That’s the fun part. You can play with it in whatever way, shape, or form you want to. I think it will be small in some ways, and big in others.”

RELATED REPORTS BY THE INQUISITR

Season 2 Of Supergirl

There’s a lot in store for Supergirl this season. As the show transitions from CBS to the CW, we already know that Kara’s cousin Superman will finally make an appearance on the show. Season 1 ended just as Supergirl and James Olsen were starting to connect romantically. However, just after their big kiss, a Kryptonian pod crashed into Earth in the distance. Upon opening the pod, viewers saw a green glow emanating from the capsule and a scared Kara simply saying, “Oh my God!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvWgHeBKbks

Given how very little interaction there has been between Supergirl and the rest of the Arrowverse, it seems unlikely that the Flashpoint will cause any major riffs in Kara’s universe. However, the entire basis for the paradox conflict comes from the fact that even the smallest change can have a major impact. If the Central City timeline is changed, then the Flash might never accidentally end up in Kara’s universe in the Supergirl/Flash crossover episode. He wouldn’t catch her as she’s falling out of a window (meaning she would have to reveal her identity when she wasn’t harmed), and he wouldn’t be there to help her defeat Silver Banshee and Livewire. So while Supergirl certainly wouldn’t have to acknowledge the Flashpoint, they absolutely could.

Season 2 Of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

As reported by Screen Rant, the Flashpoint will impact DC’s Legends of Tomorrow at some level. The way that it’s handled on Legends should be especially interesting, since the entire premise of the show is that they travel back-and-forth through time in an attempt to save humanity from a dystopian future under Vandal Savage’s rule. Several characters from LOT had their CW origins on The Flash, including Captain Cold, Heat Wave, and Firestorm. Despite the fact that Captain Cold died at the end of Season 1, Wentworth Miller signed a contract with the CW to continue to play the role. Could the Flashpoint bring him back to the team? Could other characters from The Flash show up as time traveling vigilantes instead of Captain Cold, Heat Wave, and Firestorm?

Caity Lotz at Comic-Con for ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’ [Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]

Season 3 Of iZombie

When Screen Rant reported that Legends of Tomorrow would be impacted by the Flashpoint, it was after network president Mark Pedowitz said that the story arc “bleeds over to every DC show” on the CW. People often forget that iZombie is based on a comic book series by DC. Is it possible that Pedowitz forgot this when he made that statement? It certainly (and most likely) is a possibility. But the fantastic thing about the Flashpoint in DC Universe: Rebirth is that it impacted every character — even the ones who rarely interact with other characters from the DC Universe. It’s already been established that Supergirl exists in another world within the multiverse that houses the world of the Flash. With Seattle about to be turned into a military-run zombie headquarters, could it be revealed that Liv and Major also exist within the multiverse after the Flashpoint changes their world?

Where To Watch

The Flash returns to the CW on Tuesday, October 4. The following night, Arrow starts Season 5 on The CW, as it airs weekly on Wednesdays, beginning October 5.

Beginning the following week, Supergirl makes its CW debut on Monday, October 10. Later that week, on Thursday, October 13, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow begins its second season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nXldPtZ1sg

Returning from the brink of cancellation, iZombie will return mid-season, sometime in 2017. If they want to work out a Flashpoint crossover — or even a wink to the fans of the Arrowverse — they have plenty of time to work it out.

[Image via the CW]

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