The CW: Network President says they’re “staying in the superhero business” despite canceling three Arrowverse series

The Arrowverse lost three series in the wake of cancellations at The CW which left only two shows on the lineup from the DC Universe before they officially picked up Gotham Knights to series. The Flash and Superman & Lois are returning for another season, although they won’t be on the fall schedule and are being held until midseason. The network lost DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Naomi so it looked like the network was leaving the superhero world behind, especially as a sale of The CW lingers in the background. Despite the cancellations, network President Mark Pedowitz is giving a positive statement about the future of DC programming.

While speaking with the press before The CW’s upfronts presentation, via Variety, network President Mark Pedowitz insisted that they were “staying in the superhero business”, despite the cancellation of some of their DC programming. He reminded members of the press that The Flash and Superman & Lois remain on the schedule and they’ll be joined by Gotham Knights, a series the network is very high on. Even though all three of those shows won’t be on the fall schedule and are launching midseason, DC’s Stargirl, which takes place in a parallel universe outside of the Arrowverse as we know it, it’s moving into a prime spot on the fall lineup for its upcoming third season.

The network will also continue to work with Greg Berlanti, the mega-producer who has had his hand in every major Arrowverse series after he co-created Arrow itself back in 2012 with Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Berlanti has been a co-creator on every Arrowverse series except for Black Lightning and Batwoman, although he is listed as an executive producer on both of those series as well. When speaking about Berlanti Pedowitz said, “We are staying working with Greg Berlanti, who has masterminded creatively The CW DC Universe.” Also, even though there aren’t as many superhero shows on the lineup now, he believes that, even with the sale, Warner Bros. will see the value of these shows as The CW transitions to its next phase:

“So we’re not as robust as we were in the past, but still very much there. We started with one — this was ‘Arrow’ 10 years ago — we have now moved to create a whole bunch of superheroes. And we’re proud of it and we plan to stay in that business. No matter what the outcome is, with any event of sale or no sale. I think the Warner side realizes the value of having these properties up. DC Comics realizes the value of what it does to their marketability, in terms of what these franchises are.”

Essentially The CW as we know it is going to evolve and change. That can’t be ignored. Mark Pedowitz couldn’t speak on the sale but it did seem to play a part in what series were renewed, canceled, or picked up. It should be promising to fans of DC programming on the network that they picked up Gotham Knights to series. If they were trying to get out of this branding, that show wouldn’t have been developed for the network. The Arrowverse may not look like it did when Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow were going strong but we should give it a chance to transition into this next phase of what the network will become.

Do YOU think The CW will continue to develop DC programming and Arrowverse shows?