The CW’s Arrowverse has been getting more and more ambitious when it comes to crossovers. After testing the waters with a few smaller attempts, they went in heavy with “Crisis on Earth X” and “Elseworlds,” which brought all their shows together to battle a larger threat. But they really topped themselves with the 2019/2020 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” arc, which not only united the Arrowverse but gave us peeks into the BurtonVerse, the 1960s Batman world and even featured Ezra Miller cameoing as the DCEU Flash.
If a new report from leaker Daniel Richtman is correct, though, their next big event could be their most interesting yet. He’s claiming that they’re considering adapting the “Doomsday Clock” DC Comics crossover. Penned by Geoff Johns, this saw the characters from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen enter the DC Universe, resolving the famous cliffhanger ending of the classic graphic novel.
The story probes at the corners of the multiverse, with famous faces from both universes trying to find Doctor Manhattan in order to save the world. It was received largely positively, though the Watchmen characters weren’t written with anywhere near the same skill as they were in the original. In addition, Johns’ reputation has taken some knocks in the wake of allegations from the Justice League production, so maybe using one of his stories isn’t such a great idea right now.
If The CW did decide to go this route, they’d also have to be careful not to step on the toes of HBO’s Watchmen. The 2019 show was a smash hit and functioned as a sequel to the comic, though went in a very different direction from “Doomsday Clock.” There are no signs that Damon Lindelof is working on a second season, however, so The CW could be in the clear to use the characters.
Tackling a story like this is tricky, but the network has proven time and time again that the Arrowverse has got what it takes to do properly comic-book-y universe-changing stories. If they go for it, I wish them all the best, because audiences will certainly be heavily scrutinizing the way they use Rorschach, Ozymandias and Doctor Manhattan.
