This series was the creation of writers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, and as seen very early in the show’s run, during the second season, it’s established that Oliver Queen’s Green Arrow is not the only hero to feature within the world of these stories. Season 2, episode 8 sees Grant Gustin make his debut as Barry Allan ahead of leading his own show in The Flash.
After that, the Arrowverse exploded as new heroes made their way on-screen, and spin-off shows expanded the potential for bigger and more ambitious crossovers. Of course, there were also some shows inspired by DC Comics that were adjacent to the Arrowverse, such as Superman & Lois, but for the sake of this list, we are focusing on pure, canonical entries within the Arrowverse.
8
Batwoman
One of the biggest challenges that the Arrowverse had to overcome was IP. Despite being an authorized DC adaptation and The CW being owned by Warner Brothers, which holds the rights for the DC characters, the TV universe wasn’t granted the same level of permission and access as the blockbuster movies that were moving towards building their own DCEU.
And even though the DCEU was on the way out in 2019 when Batwoman debuted, the show was forced to tell a Gotham story without any Batman and to avoid several major villains. Yes, they had Batwoman, and her story wasn’t hopeless, but when the show was supposed to move forward boldly and confidently, it felt like it was operating with its hands tied behind its back.
Add to that weak writing, constant cast changes, terrible CGI, and underwhelming performances, and Batwoman never had a hope of standing up against the competition from the rest of the Arrowverse.
7
Freedom Fighters: The Ray
While Superman & Lois unfortunately don’t qualify for a position in this lineup, two shows are often forgotten from the Arrowverse. This comes as a result of the shows appearing on CW Seed, a digital counterpart to the popular channel, which features several projects like Freedom Fighters: The Ray.
This show introduces audiences to Earth X, long before Peacemaker season 2 ever explored this bizarre reality. The protagonist is Ray Terril, a gay man who is oppressed due to the nazi regime that rules his world. However, when he develops light-based powers, he gets a chance to make a real change.
All of that made for an interesting setup, and the animated style of the series certainly opened the door to interesting possibilities that live-action Arrowverse shows didn’t have. But there are times in the show and the wider Arrowverse that clash with the series, and it ultimately cheapens the whole experience. On top of that, the show’s animation style was not as polished as it should have been.
6
Black Lightning
Black Lightning is potentially the most underrated and underappreciated live-action series to come out of the Arrowverse. While the shows that preceded it had time to find their footing, and they featured strong storylines and writing, Black Lightning suffered due to low production quality and inconsistencies.
Despite this, the performances of leading actors and the attempt to address important social issues stood out and made the show into something well worth exploring. That being said, there were better projects in the Arrowverse, and many of them got the attention they deserved, and then some. Meanwhile, Black Lightning remains a hidden gem.
5
Vixen
The second of the CW Seed shows, Vixen debuted in 2015, with 12 5-minute episodes spread across two seasons. The show followed Mari McCabe, a hero who has the ability to mimic other superhuman abilities. And this show was exactly what these minishows for CW Seed needed to be.
The series pulled in the actors from the Arrowverse (which Freedom Fighters also did), and gave them significant roles in the show. And while the animation still wasn’t incredibly impressive, the narrative was a lot more engaging and well-written than its CW Seed competition.
All of that said, Vixen’s ridiculously short time per episode made it hard to connect with the character and actually satisfyingly develop the story. Instead, it felt rushed, and it joins the pile of underwhelming DC projects.
4
Supergirl
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Supergirl is the first show in the Arrowverse that is a genuine pleasure to watch from start to finish. That doesn’t mean that it loses its way in some seasons, and the quality of the series ebbs and flows, but Melissa Benoist absolutely dominated in the role of Kara Danvers.
Similar to Batwoman, Supergirl had to operate with strict rules about how it could engage with the typical Superman stories, and despite being able to feature the Man of Steel after the premiere season of the show, Supergirl felt like she had her own story and a group of characters that made her story worth watching.
Yes, it did bring over some of Clark Kent’s friends to fill out the cast at times, but Supergirl managed to pull it all together in a satisfying way and made this one of the top-tier Arrowverse projects.
3
The Flash
Despite the Flash being a prominent member of the Justice League, the fact that he is not a member of the big three (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) gave the Arrowverse a significant amount of freedom to dive into and explore Barry Allan’s story and introduce many of his most recognizable rogues throughout.
With that, The Flash absolutely killed it with its premiere season, exceeding the quality of Arrow, and establishing Barry’s corner of the Arrowverse as something very different, but one that absolutely fits into that bigger puzzle. While the subsequent seasons maintained a high level of quality, the show did begin to fall apart towards the end with lackluster later seasons.
There were still major moments and a satisfying resolution to the story, but it felt like the story ran out of steam around season 5, which was unfortunately the opposite of some of the more impressive entries in the Arrowverse.
2
Legends of Tomorrow
The prime example of a series that started weak and then began to come into its own as time went on. Legends of Tomorrow is an ambitious series that follows a group of B-List heroes and redeemed villains as they travel through time and fight immortal rivals and other time travelers.
Season 1 of the show was easily the weakest, but when the series began to throw the rulebook to one side and indulge in the incredible premise that allowed the series to do things that wouldn’t make sense anywhere else in the Arrowverse, it quickly became one of the strongest parts of the franchise.
1
Arrow
Arrow is the foundation of the Arrowverse, and it sets the tone for the rest of the stories. But more than that, it managed to reinvent a comic book hero and make him one of the most important parts of the entire DC Universe, at least as far as The CW was concerned.
Arrow started out strong, with an Oliver Queen that bore a distinct resemblance to Gotham’s Bruce Wayne. However, as the show developed, and Team Arrow came into focus, along with Oliver navigating relationships, family dynamics, and romance, it really came into its own.
Again, the show had highs and lows, but Arrow managed to do something unprecedented, and it is one of the few Arrowverse shows that actually resolved its story before being forced to wrap things up. All of this combined to make it the best of the Arrowverse, and earn it the top spot when compared to the shows that came after it.