'The Flash' / 'Supergirl' Crossover Is Officially Happening
2016 is definitely the year of the superhero team-up. Cap and Iron Man are assembling their teams for Civil War, while Bats, Supes, and Wonder Woman brace themselves for the Dawn of Justice. And now two of TV's most lovable superheroes are also looking to join forces.
Grant Gustin, who leads The CW's The Flash, is officially set to guest-star on an upcoming episode of CBS' Supergirl, which stars Melissa Benoist as the titular superheroine. Get all the details on the Flash Supergirl crossover after the jump. Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who executive produce both The Flash and Supergirl, confirmed the crossover in a statement:
We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl – The Flash and Supergirl are teaming up!. We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out. And finally thanks to the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone's enthusiasm and support.
The episode is scheduled to air Monday, March 28 at 9/8c on CBS.
A potential Flash Supergirl crossover has been the subject of much speculation since before Supergirl even hit the airwaves, CBS' denials notwithstanding. While the shows play on different networks, they share a lot of the same behind-the-scenes talent, including Berlanti, Kreisberg, costume designer Colleen Atwood, and director Glen Winter.
Moreover, the producers have proven open to crossovers in the past. After Constantine was cancelled by NBC last year, lead actor Matt Ryan reprised his role for an episode of Arrow (which is also produced by Berlanti and Kreisberg). This was despite the fact that, as with Supergirl and The Flash, the two shows had not previously been confirmed as existing in the same universe.
Speaking of which, Deadline offers the interesting detail that the crossover only goes one way. That is, there are no current plans for Benoist to return the favor with a cameo on The Flash. This is partly because Supergirl has a bigger budget than The Flash, but also because within the narratives of their respective shows, the Flash has the ability to cross dimensions while Supergirl does not. (Until the writers come up with a way to justify a Supergirl guest appearance on The Flash, anyway.)
While Warner Bros. / DC's movie arm prepares to launch its new shared universe with this spring's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, its TV arm has already established a cozy little universe over the past couple of years. The Arrowverse currently consists of Arrow, The Flash, Vixen, and Legends of Tomorrow, and as of now also has ties to Constantine and Supergirl.
The Flash Supergirl crossover won't be the first time Gustin and Benoist have shared the screen. Both first broke out on Fox's Glee — Benoist as regular character Marley Rose and Gustin as recurring character Sebastian Smythe. And they appeared together in costume (with Berlanti) for a Variety cover shoot last year. Look how adorable these crazy kids are together:
Secret is out. @melissabenoist and I are gonna get to have some fun on Supergirl together..
A photo posted by Grant Gustin (@grantgust) on