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Although The CW tends to skew toward teenagers, girls in particular, with its lineup of shows — The Vampire Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, The Carrie Diaries, etc. — the network has gained a strong foothold with fans of comic books through Arrow. The series, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, is popular among the network’s usual viewers as well as avid comic book fans, and has already been given a third season. However, will the Arrow spinoff series, The Flash, be able to bridge the same gap and be enjoyed by the same fans?
While the Green Arrow character is inherently more of a crime fighter — which has been portrayed well through Arrow‘s Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) — The Flash is more interested in science, which we saw already in Arrow when Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) was introduced. Because of these differences, Arrow lends itself more to action, while the new series The Flash will lend itself more toward science fiction.
In a recent interview with Digital Spy, executive producer of Arrow and The Flash, Greg Berlanti, said Oliver and Barry will compliment each other since they both have light and dark aspects to their characters.
“They’re a really nice contrast to each other and the show functions in that way, I think,” Berlanti said.
Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) will also serve to bridge the two shows. In the two-part introduction of Barry on Arrow, he formed a bond with Felicity. She also spent most of the following Arrow episode visiting Barry in Central City, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that she will appear on The Flash once it premieres.
Berlanti already has a hit with Arrow, and since he’s also executive producing The Flash, we can hope the new series will probably be successful as well. The Flash is definitely worth checking out for fans of Arrow, despite their differences.
