Characters from the CW’s DC Comics-based series exist in a different narrative universe than those in the upcoming Warner Bros. film Batman v. Superman, according to DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns.
“At DC we really see film and TV as separate worlds,” Johns said Friday during a TCA summer press tour panel for the CW’s The Flash, when asked whether characters from the show might appear in the film. “Arrow and Flash created a huge DC universe for us. It’s only going to live and breathe and grow.”
Johns was joined onstage by Flash executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, as well as the cast. Berlanti insisted that the TV versions of the DC characters are not to be considered second rate.
“It’s not a second prize,” he said. “It is the prize for us to have an opportunity to tell these stories with these characters.” Berlanti, who is also executive producer of Arrow, from which The Flash was spun off, also noted that “between the two shows, we’ll have half the Justice League,” the core superhero team in the DC universe.
Other highlights from the panel included
—“This is probably the most faithful DC Comics adaptation ever,” said Johns. This year, DC will have five broadcast series based on its properties — Flash, Arrow and iZombie for the CW, Constantine for NBC and Gotham for Fox.
—According to Kreisberg, the producers made a conscious decision to hire African-American actors to portray play Joe and Iris West, who have traditionally been portrayed in comics as white. “It was one of the earliest ideas when we were developing the shows that we had,” said Kreisberg. “We really wanted the show to be more reflective of the world we live in.”
—Executive producer Greg Berlanti announced, “Wentworth Miller will be playing Captin Cold in episode four of our show.” In the comics, Captain Cold is one of the Flash’s principal villains, armed with a weapon that freezes its target.
—Responding to a question about how the producers planned to maintain the production value of the pilot, which heavily utilized special effects, Kreisberg joked, “We’re thinking about starting a Kickstarter.”
