By any metric, The CW’s Arrowverse has been a hit and the various shows set within it have developed a tightly-knit and passionate fanbase. But their feathers were rustled this week as The CW attempted to rebrand the Arrowverse as the CWVerse.
To those who’ve been following the ongoing story since it began on Arrow all those years ago, this was heresy. Okay, Arrow isn’t on the air anymore, but continuing to use the name showed respect for where everything began.
Now, Arrow star Stephen Amell has chimed in with his own name for it and it’s not the Arrowverse or the CWVerse. Instead, here’s what he offered up:
It’s the Berlantiverse.
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) September 2, 2020
Of course, this is a reference to Greg Berlanti, who’s effectively the Kevin Feige of The CW’s shows. Prior to entering the world of capes and cowls, the producer had worked on Dawson’s Creek, though in 2012 he created, wrote and produced the first season of Arrow. He’s since been responsible for producing many shows, including The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. Beyond The CW, he also helped develop and produce Titans, Doom Patrol and Stargirl for DC Universe.
Based on that resume, last year’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover was basically a tour of Berlanti’s properties and a testament to how much he’s responsible for the Arrowverse’s success. So, will fans follow Amell’s lead and start calling it the Berlantiverse in honor of the man whose fingerprints are all over DC’s live-action TV output?
Probably not judging by the replies to the Tweet above, but I can’t deny that Berlantiverse trips off the tongue a damn sight better than the new CWVerse does. I hope the network reconsiders this marketing push, as their clunky and inelegant new name is annoying the fans and (reading between the lines of Amell’s tweet) the creatives working on the shows, too.
