It seems like a crossover between The CW’s DC TV series Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow has been in the works for ages now, and fan anticipation is stewing. Ever since Barry Allen’s The Flash ran into the Supergirl universe last year in a pleasantly surprising cross-network team-up, it’s seemed inevitable that all four worlds would collide, even with Supergirl existing in a different realm of the Arrow/Flash TV multiverse. Luckily for all of us, this crossover epic is just around the corner, and The CW is riding high on fan excitement.
We’ve seen some strong promotional materials for the upcoming three-hour event so far, from an extended trailer to a number of images. We know that the special will celebrate Arrow’s 100th episode amidst alien-fighting chaos, and that it will actually officially start on The Flash, though Supergirl will see a bit of crossover action (as teased in this recent sneak peek). Though we still don’t know many technical details about the special, we now have some interesting news about how it’s affecting each individual show.
As unearthed in a report by Comic Book, The CW’s programming schedule indicated that the network has added some extra padding to each episode in the upcoming crossover – between 30 and 50 extra seconds for each show. Supergirl got an extra 35 seconds, while The Flash got 50, Legends of Tomorrow got 45, and Arrow got 40. The article notes that it’s not uncommon for The CW to grant their shows some extra time to accommodate promos during the credits, and that this has happened before, during mid-season and season finales.
Still, it’s equally likely that this extra time will accommodate more content, especially in Supergirl’s case, where the crossover isn’t so much an episode-long feature as it is a cliffhanger ending. Supergirl is also the only show not heading into a midseason finale, and thus the only one in the event that will not necessarily require additional promo time during the credits. It is the show that’s been granted the least amount of extra time, though, so it’s just as possible that the Arrowverse shows are squeezing in a little extra content along with their mid-season finale sneak peeks. This would be especially prudent for Arrow, which has a lot to tackle between this epic team-up and its 100th episode.
Ultimately, it’s likely many fans won’t even notice how these extra seconds affect each episode, but this does speak a lot to how invested The CW is in each of these shows and the overall event – rightly so, since this could prove to be an enormous ratings boon for the network. As the legendary heroes team up to fight a hostile alien race known as the Dominators, it will be fascinating to see how well the overall series flows from show to show, and if this extra cushion helps with that transition.
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Heroes v. Aliens begins Monday, Nov. 28 with Supergirl at 8 p.m. EST on The CW, and continues with The Flash at the same time on Tuesday, Arrow on Wednesday, and Legends of Tomorrow on Thursday.
Source: Comic Book
