Why HBO's Justice League Dark Could Exist In The Arrowverse
With HBO Max’s upcoming Justice League Dark series, the J.J. Abrams-produced drama could be set in the Arrowverse’s new Multiverse. The Bad Robot founder, through his deal with WarnerMedia, is developing a TV series based on DC’s team of supernatural characters for the upcoming HBO-branded streaming service. Initially announced to be creating a shared TV/film universe based on Justice League Dark, the community of magic-based characters is now getting an ensemble series. From members such as Constantine and Swamp Thing having been adapted to live-action in recent years to the group having animated films, Justice League Dark has slowly been emerging as a more recognizable property.
The addition of Abrams’ Justice League Dark marks as the third DC TV show for HBO Max. Arrowverse creator Greg Berlanti is developing two shows for the platform with Green Lantern and Strange Adventures. Those are likely only the beginning of DC shows that will be developed for HBO Max once the streaming service launches in May. This, however, becomes the third Warner Bros. platform to set up a new DC continuity, joining The CW’s Arrowverse and DC Universe’s individual shows, with Titans, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl. Since the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 5-part Arrowverse crossover that changed the status quo of Berlanti’s shared franchise, DC’s live-action properties have landed in an interesting position moving forward.
Despite airing on different networks/platforms or being feature films, the new Multiverse that Oliver Queen (as the Spectre) created brought the majority of live-action properties together. Past, present, and even future projects got their own Earth designation, with all of The CW heroes existing on Earth-Prime. For non-CW properties, Titans, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl have been established to exist on Earth-9, Earth-21, and Earth-2, respectively. While using archived footage from 2011’s Green Lantern, Berlanti’s HBO Max drama was confirmed to exist on Earth-12. That officially opened the door for HBO Max and The CW to collaborate anywhere from establishing their co-existences in the Arrowverse Multiverse to potential crossovers.
Since Abrams is intending to use Justice League Dark as the beginning of a new universe, it’s theoretically able to become another Earth in the new Multiverse map. Due to the fact that the Earth-Prime heroes currently don’t know about other Earths still existing, it gives HBO Max the creative lead way to establish Abrams’ upcoming series as being set on its own Earth without needing to adhere to the Arrowverse's stories. While Abrams’ plan is to use his Justice League Dark universe to also set up films, that doesn’t make a connection to the Arrowverse connection any less possible. Crisis on Infinite Earths incorporated film continuities such as Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh’s shared Superman, Michael Keaton’s Batman, and even the DCEU through a surprise cameo in the fourth hour by their Flash.
On paper, Earth-JLD can exist, without problems, as another alternative reality in Arrowverse’s reshaped Multiverse. Earth-Prime’s heroes are bound to begin discovering the new Earths eventually in future seasons and crossovers. As far as actual crossovers go, that is probably where it gets problematic - ultimately depending on production schedules, network deals, and budget concerns. While DC Universe’s upcoming Stargirl can (and almost did) have proper crossovers, it might be a different challenge between The CW and HBO Max. But with everything that happened in Crisis on Infinite Earths that seemed impossible eight years ago, it might not be unrealistic for the Arrowverse to eventually cross paths with HBO Max’s Justice League Dark.