Sorry, Arrowverse fans: The pandemic has likely axed crossover plans for this year

It’s become a hallmark of The CW’s Arrowverse to have a few heroes meet up, team up, and take on a super-sized baddie at least once every season — but don’t expect any big events this year.

There had previously been tentative plans to crossover Batwoman and Supergirl/Superman & Lois at some point later this season, but Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries told TV Line that COVID-19 protocols — effectively “bubbling” each production cast and crew in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus — has made any crossover hope effectively impossible this season. Because, well, they literally can't crossover.

“We’re not really able to cross over because physically, we can’t cross crews due to the fear of exposure to COVID,” Dries told TV Line. “So if Supergirl weren’t ending this year, I would say there would be more of a possibility. But I’m afraid that at least this year, we’re not going to be able to tap into that dynamic.”

Of course, derailing the Batwoman crossover doesn’t mean they won’t find a way to make some type of team-up work out this year somehow (though even that sounds unlikely at this point, so don’t count on it) — but the days of massive Crisis on Infinite Earths-like events seem to be on hold, at least for the immediate future. We’ve already heard The CW is still adjusting its production schedules to keep its super-shows on track, with the chance episode orders could be trimmed this year to provide more production runway to keep next season on track.

So at this point, put simply, we’re lucky to be getting any Arrowverse at all, considering [Gestures Wildly At Everything]. With vaccines being rolled out, here’s hoping that by the 2021-2022 season the creative teams behind the Arrowverse will have had time (and the ability) to cook up something truly special to bring all our favorite heroes back together. But for now, we’ll have to settle for a fresh batch of solo adventures. 

Batwoman returns January 17, Black Lightning returns February 8, The Flash is back February 23, Superman & Lois premieres February 23, and Legends of Tomorrow is eyeing a midseason return.