We’ve already speculated on MTV News that Warner Bros. and DC’s “Gotham” and “Arrow” – despite being on separate networks – could be participating in some sort of stealth crossover. Both are based on DC Comics, both share producers and heck: it would just be pretty cool.
But despite all our hoping and wishing, sorry fans… The crossover ain’t happening.
To give a bit of background, the second episode of “Gotham” aired on FOX on September 29, and it caused a bevy of speculation. First of all, the two shows (two including “Arrow“) share a villain named The Dollmaker, one who — from the comics at least — could exist in two timelines simultaneously: “Gotham” takes place in the “past,” and “Arrow” in the “present.”
But the bigger piece of evidence? In one shot of the Gotham City skyline, eagle-eyed fans glimpsed the Queen Consolidated logo… Indicating that “Arrow” main character Oliver Queen (or perhaps his father) might have an outpost on Batman’s future turf.
Warner Bros.
Given the “Gotham” episode had just aired, when MTV News talked to “Arrow” Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim over the phone, we asked how the sneak crossover came about.
“You know, it’s a great question!” Guggenheim said. “The internet did point out to me the Queen Consolidated [logo] – or what looked like a Queen consolidated Easter egg. I’m still actually trying to find out how intentional that was. Let me just say the investigation is ongoing.”
Consider the investigation solved, Mr. Guggenheim. During the recently held New York Comic Con, we asked “Gotham” producer Danny Cannon the same question, and he was able to clarify how one show’s logo ended up in another show’s skyline.
“I gotta tell you, it was completely unintentional,” Cannon said. “Somebody spotted it in the cutting room, but we move so fast, we were like, ‘that’s cool, leave it in! don’t talk about it!’ We were stealing – the visual effects guys were stealing neon letters from other places, and that was one that worked. But it was unintentional.”
Given the shared production companies, reusing resources and even small shout-outs probably aren’t a problem… But other than a logo here and there, Guggenheim was quick to shut down the idea that the series would also share a villain.
“Well I think that is very clearly an example of not a crossover,” Guggenheim said, “because that was a completely different take on the Dollmaker character from the comics than we had last year. So that was a completely separate occurrence.”
Still he wasn’t totally against the idea of crossing over some day, particularly since “Arrow” is already crossing over with fellow The CW show “The Flash.”
“I would love to see that,” Guggenheim said when we suggested DC could do a “Crisis On Infinite Networks.” “I think it’s a great thing that we have all these DC shows and all these superhero shows, all these comic book shows… It’s wonderful, and whenever they can connect together that’s great. But I also see the benefit of not being tied to one continuity, so your hands are not tied.”
Cannon agreed, adding that though fans may want to see a crossover, it probably won’t happen – at least on “Gotham.”
“It’s a very different tone, our show,” Cannon said. “[They’re] apples and oranges.”
What do you think? Is an accidental digital asset enough, or do you want to see Oliver Queen in Gotham City?
Alex Zalben
Writer/Editor at MTV News. You can follow him on Twitter, but not in real life because that would be weird.
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