In recent years, crossovers have been all the rage when it comes to superhero properties, whether it be on the big or small screen. And after being left reeling by this fall’s big Arrowverse mashup, Crisis on Earth-X, we’re sure many DC TV fans have one item remaining on their checklists.
We are, of course, talking about something involving any one (or more) of the shows making up the Arrowverse crossing over with Gotham. Truth be told, we wouldn’t mind seeing it as well, but there are several logistical factors to consider, from both storytelling and legal standpoints.
First, let’s look at this from a storytelling standpoint. Really, we need a defined reason for the likes of Oliver Queen and Barry Allen to be interacting with the boy who would be Batman. And being of the same mind as Arrow‘s Echo Kellum, Gotham star David Mazouz has an idea as to how it could go down and, as usual, it involves the Scarlet Speedster messing with the timeline:
“First of all, if there’s going to be a Crossover, they come to Gotham. That’s kind of a must have because nobody in Gotham can time travel yet.”
“The Flash kind of had their run-in with Flashpoint a couple of seasons ago. Maybe there could be another kind of Flashpoint where Flash runs back in time and goes to Gotham and maybe tries to stop Bruce Wayne’s parents’ murder from happening. Maybe not the traditional ‘Bruce Wayne gets murdered instead and Thomas becomes Batman thing,’ but something along those lines where the whole world gets whack and it’s up to Flash to fix things in Gotham.”
While that could theoretically work, it’d be treading familiar territory. Plus, you have to admit that Gotham‘s anachronistic setting seems more in line with the Earth-3 that Jay Garrick calls home, so maybe it’d make more sense to hop universes rather than going back in time.
Speaking of which, a similar thing happened when The Flash and Supergirl originally crossed over in the spring of 2016, when the latter was still on CBS. But seeing as how that network has stake in The CW, which, in fact, stands for “CBS/Warner Bros.,” that made things easier from a legal standpoint. But with Gotham airing on Fox – a station now owned by Disney, no less – this makes things all the more difficult. Still, one can hope.