19 Interesting Fan Theories About The CW Superhero Universe

The CW’s superhero universe – often called the Arrowverse – might officially be winding down,
but fans are absolutely not done with it. Between time travel, multiverses, Crisis-level
reboots, and at least three different versions of Harrison Wells, it’s no surprise that viewers
have spent years building wild, clever, and sometimes terrifyingly plausible fan theories
about these shows.

From Arrow and The Flash to Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow,
Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois, the CW superhero
universe became one of the most ambitious TV crossovers ever. It also left behind just enough
unanswered questions to keep Reddit threads, fan wikis, and late-night Discord calls very
busy. So let’s suit up, grab a Big Belly Burger, and dive into 19 of the most interesting fan
theories about the CW superhero universe.

Why The CW Superhero Universe Is A Theory Machine

The Arrowverse was built on three concepts that are basically gasoline for fan theories:
time travel, multiverses, and emotional trauma. Characters constantly rewrote history, met
alternate versions of themselves, and then tried to pretend everything was “back to normal.”
Spoiler: it never was.

Add in crossovers like Crisis on Earth-X and Crisis on Infinite
Earths, where characters from different Earths (and sometimes other DC continuities)
collided, and you’ve got the perfect environment for fans to connect dots the writers only
vaguely sketched in. Some theories eventually became canon; others stayed in the “maybe?”
zone. All of them show how deeply fans engaged with the CW superhero universe.

19 Interesting Fan Theories About The CW Superhero Universe

1. The Entire Arrowverse Is Really a Flashpoint Offshoot

One long-running theory argues that the main Arrowverse timeline we follow is not the original
DC TV universe at all – it’s a branch created when Barry Allen first altered history in
Flashpoint. In this theory, the “true” original world exists off-screen, while the one we’ve
watched for over a decade is a repaired but still distorted version of reality.

It explains why certain characters change personality between seasons, why some relationships
feel “fated,” and why huge world-altering events sometimes get shockingly little reaction from
the wider population. Basically, everyone is living in a slightly wrong world and has no idea.

2. Reverse-Flash Is Secretly Protecting the Timeline

Eobard Thawne is one of the Arrowverse’s most persistent villains, but some fans think his
long game isn’t pure chaos. The theory: Reverse-Flash is less “agent of evil” and more “dark
time cop,” nudging events so Barry becomes the hero he needs to be and the timeline doesn’t
completely disintegrate.

His logic is twisted: if Barry dies or fails, Eobard loses the future he comes from. So every
time Thawne tries to kill Barry and somehow fails, fans argue he’s subconsciously arranging
things so Barry grows stronger, suffers, and ultimately stabilizes the timeline. Cruel mentor,
but still a mentor.

3. Barry Allen Is Destined to Become the True God of Speed

The Savitar reveal – that he was a time-remnant, future version of Barry – instantly kicked
off deeper theories. One popular idea is that Savitar isn’t just “evil Barry,” but a glimpse of
Barry’s potential to fully merge with the Speed Force and become its ultimate avatar.

Under this theory, Savitar is a failed fork of Barry’s destiny: a version who surrendered to
pain and ego instead of love and responsibility. In the far future, a healthier Barry still
becomes a “god of speed,” but in a more balanced, cosmic-guardian way rather than “metal
demon in spiky armor.”

4. John Diggle Was Always Meant to Be a Green Lantern… Just Not on Screen

Arrow spent years teasing Diggle’s possible Green Lantern destiny – the mysterious glowing box,
the John Stewart name jokes, the cosmic invitations he turned down. Even though the
shows ultimately had him refuse the power, fans insist that in at least one corner of the
multiverse, Diggle absolutely opens that box, says yes, and becomes a Green Lantern.

Some fans treat the on-screen refusal as a character beat, but still headcanon Diggle as a
Lantern in the larger DC multiverse. In other words: maybe not on The CW’s budget, but in
spirit – and in countless fan arts – he’s already out there patrolling Sector 2814.

5. The Legends Are Quietly Cleaning Up Barry’s Messes

Barry breaks time. The Legends fix time. Coincidence? Fans think not. One theory says that
most of the temporal anomalies the Legends of Tomorrow deal with are direct or indirect
consequences of Barry’s time travel experiments and Speed Force shenanigans.

Whenever Barry “fixes” a timeline and everything seems fine by the end of the episode, this
theory claims things aren’t actually fine – they’re just dumped on the Waverider’s to-do list.
It gives a secretly elegant structure to the CW superhero universe: The Flash causes the
problem, and the Legends quietly keep reality from completely melting.

6. Oliver Queen Was Marked by the Spectre from the Very Beginning

When Oliver becomes the Spectre in Crisis on Infinite Earths, some fans argued this
wasn’t a last-minute twist but the payoff to a long-running spiritual arc. The theory goes that
Oliver was “chosen” the moment he survived the shipwreck in the pilot, and every impossible
survival afterward was Spectre energy keeping him alive until he could take up the mantle.

His years of wrestling with guilt, vengeance, and a shifting moral code read like an extended
test run for someone meant to weigh the souls of entire worlds. All those lists and crossed
names? Early training for judging the multiverse.

7. Supergirl’s Earth Was a Future Version of Earth-1

Before the post-Crisis merge, some fans theorized that Supergirl’s Earth wasn’t just another
parallel world – it was actually a future branch of Earth-1. The slightly more advanced tech,
the different political landscape, and subtle timeline oddities fed this idea.

Under this theory, crossing between worlds was basically time-travel plus dimension hopping.
It would explain why certain threats felt “ahead of the curve” and why Kara’s Earth had
versions of characters that Earth-1 hadn’t “grown into” yet.

8. The Multiverse Council Means Every DC Adaptation Is Canon

After Crisis on Infinite Earths paraded cameos from other DC properties – from
classic TV shows to big-screen heroes – fans embraced a delicious theory: every DC adaptation
you’ve ever seen exists somewhere in the CW multiverse.

That means Christopher Reeve’s Superman, the animated Justice League, Michael Keaton’s
Batman, and even the goofiest Saturday-morning cartoon versions all coexist as alternate
Earths. The CW superhero universe becomes a kind of connective tissue for decades of DC
media, not just its own shows.

9. Cisco Ramon Was the True Guardian of the Multiverse

Cisco’s vibe powers let him see and travel between universes. Some fans argue this actually
made him more important than any speedster – he was the universe’s early warning system.

In this theory, the multiverse gifted Cisco his abilities specifically so he could monitor
threats like Breachers, doppelgängers, and interdimensional invaders. When he eventually gives
up his powers, it’s seen not just as a personal decision, but as the multiverse saying,
“We’ve rebooted enough; your watch is over.”

10. Black Lightning’s Freeland Experiments Are an ARGUS Side Project

Black Lightning started out technically separate from the Arrowverse, but fan theories quickly
began linking it to ARGUS and other familiar organizations. One popular idea: the shady
government experiments in Freeland – the ones that created generations of metahumans – were an
off-the-books ARGUS initiative.

This would tie Freeland’s tragedy directly into the wider CW superhero universe and explain
why the government seemed disturbingly competent at handling metas by the time Arrow
and The Flash were deep into their runs.

11. Earth-X Exists Because Barry Never Became the Flash There

In Crisis on Earth-X, we meet a world where the Nazis won World War II. One fan
theory suggests this horrific timeline exists because, on that Earth, Barry Allen never became
the Flash, leaving the heroes underpowered during crucial historical turning points.

Without a speedster capable of time travel and crisis-level intervention, Earth-X lacks the
last-minute miracles that saved other Earths. It’s a dark mirror that shows what happens when
the “lightning never strikes.”

12. Legends of Tomorrow Is Secretly a Comedy About Fixed Canon

A more meta theory: Legends of Tomorrow isn’t just a goofy time-travel romp; it’s a
commentary on how hard it is to keep superhero canon straight. Every time the Legends mess
with history and then patch it back together, fans see a reflection of writers trying to
reconcile retcons, spin-offs, and crossover fallout.

In this reading, the Waverider is basically a writer’s room on a spaceship, and the Time
Masters are network executives. When the show leans into absurdity, it’s admitting that
maintaining a perfectly consistent universe across multiple shows is… well, impossible.

13. The Monitor Has Been Manipulating Events Since the Pilot of Arrow

Some fans believe the Monitor didn’t just show up shortly before Crisis on Infinite
Earths – he’s been quietly guiding events since Oliver first returned to Starling City.
The island, the people Oliver met, even the timing of other heroes’ origins were all arranged
to create the exact set of champions needed to survive Crisis.

In this theory, Oliver’s entire arc – from vengeful vigilante to multiversal martyr – is a
cosmic chess game the Monitor started playing years earlier. It makes Oliver’s sacrifices feel
even more mythic, and also a bit more tragic, since free will becomes… negotiable.

14. There’s a “Shadow Earth” Where All the Canceled Shows Continue

Fans still grieving the loss of Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and other
CW superhero titles have created a comforting theory: somewhere in the multiverse, there’s an
Earth where none of the shows got canceled and every dangling storyline actually resolves.

It’s half joke, half coping mechanism. But it fits the internal logic of the multiverse:
if infinite worlds exist, there’s at least one where Sara Lance gets her happily-ever-after
on screen and Ryan Wilder’s Batwoman finishes her arc.

15. Superman & Lois Takes Place on a Re-Rebooted Earth

When Superman & Lois started contradicting earlier Arrowverse continuity, fans
quickly theorized that it didn’t actually share the same post-Crisis Earth as the other shows.
Instead, it might be set on a newly adjusted Earth created by extra off-screen multiversal
tinkering.

This explains the different history, the mismatch in Clark’s public profile, and the way the
series gradually stopped referencing other CW heroes. It’s still spiritually part of the CW
superhero universe – just on its own, sneakily re-rebooted branch.

16. Nora and Bart Are the Key to Preventing the Next Crisis

With so many Crises already behind them, fans assume another cosmic disaster is inevitable.
One theory puts Barry and Iris’s kids, Nora and Bart, at the center of the next big save.

In this idea, everything about their chaotic personalities, impulsive mistakes, and time-travel
adventures is training for a future event where they, not Barry, have to rewrite destiny.
The Flash mantle moves forward a generation, and the kids become the ones who finally break
the cycle of endless Crises.

17. Killer Frost Was Always Going to Be a Hero, Not a Villain

Even when Caitlin’s frosty alter ego leaned into chaos, many fans believed Killer Frost’s arc
was always heading toward redemption. The theory: the dark persona was a defense mechanism
created by trauma and metahuman awakening, not a truly separate “evil” identity.

That lens makes every villainous act a cry for help and every team-up with the heroes a step
toward integration. In the bigger picture of the CW superhero universe, Frost represents how
many “villains” are actually broken people learning to heal.

18. The CW Superhero Universe Is a Training Ground for the Larger DC Multiverse

Another big-picture theory suggests that the Arrowverse isn’t the main stage of DC’s
multiverse – it’s the practice arena. Speedsters, Kryptonians, time-traveling rogues, and
mystical beings constantly collide here so the universe can “stress test” different outcomes
before they echo into other worlds.

That would explain why so many apocalyptic threats seem to show up specifically in this tiny
cluster of Earths. The CW superhero universe is where the multiverse experiments, fails, and
occasionally succeeds… sometimes with questionable CGI, but always with heart.

19. Fans Themselves Are Part of the Multiverse

The most meta theory of all: every viewer is effectively another Earth in the multiverse. Each
fan builds their own “canon” in their head – which ships are real, which plots “count,” and
which finale they politely pretend never happened. Those headcanons function like alternate
Earths branching off from the shows we saw on screen.

In that sense, the CW superhero universe is unfinished on purpose. The writers close some
doors, but fans keep opening new ones in fanfiction, art, videos, and – yes – elaborate theory
threads. The story never truly ends; it just jumps to a different Earth.

What It Feels Like to Live Inside These Theories (Fan Experiences)

For long-time viewers, watching the CW superhero universe was never just “tune in on Tuesday
and forget about it.” It felt more like being part of an ongoing mystery game where you’re
constantly searching for clues. Every lingering shot on a glowing object, every odd line of
dialogue, and every casting rumor became potential evidence for a new theory.

Maybe you were one of the fans who spent weeks arguing about Savitar’s identity, pausing
frames, analyzing voice filters, and mapping out time-remnant logic on scratch paper. When the
reveal finally confirmed that he was a broken future Barry, it was like being rewarded for
doing homework nobody assigned – equal parts satisfaction and “oh no, this is going to hurt.”

If you were deeply into Arrow, you probably remember the early days of the Diggle
Green Lantern theory. A stray comment about “Stewart,” a suspiciously green glow here, a
cosmic box there – that was all it took. Overnight, fan art popped up of Diggle in a Lantern
suit. People edited fake trailers, wrote fanfic about him joining the Corps, and came to
crossovers half expecting him to say the oath. Even when the shows decided to take a different
path, the fan-version never really went away. In your personal multiverse, Diggle has that
ring somewhere.

The crossovers turned theorizing into a social event. During Crisis on Earth-X or
Crisis on Infinite Earths, group chats lit up with messages like, “Did you see that
background logo?” and “I swear that was the same alley from that other show.” People watched
live together across time zones, grabbing screenshots and posting theories before the episode
even finished airing. It felt less like watching TV and more like attending a giant,
worldwide convention in your living room.

Even the cancellations and retcons became part of the experience. When a favorite show ended
on a cliffhanger, fans didn’t just complain – they wrote their own finales. Headcanon endings
circulated on social media and fan forums: a version where Sara and Ava retire happily, one
where Batwoman’s legacy carries forward, or another where the multiverse gets one last big,
joyful crossover instead of a quiet fade-out. In a universe built on infinite Earths, “what
might have been” doesn’t feel like denial – it feels like another valid timeline.

For many fans, these theories were also a way of staying connected. You might have started
watching The Flash in high school and finished it as an adult. The shows changed, you
changed, but the ritual of coming back to them – and arguing about time travel logic with the
same online friends – created a strange, comforting continuity of your own.

Even now, with most of the CW superhero universe off the air, the conversations haven’t
stopped. New viewers discover the shows on streaming, stumble into old theory threads, and add
fresh twists. Someone re-watches a crossover and notices a detail everyone missed the first
time. Another fan decides, “Actually, this theory makes more sense than what we got on screen,”
and adopts it as their personal canon.

That’s the real magic of the CW superhero universe: it didn’t just tell stories, it invited
you to keep building them. Whether you’re Team “Diggle is a Lantern,” Team “Cisco is the real
multiverse guardian,” or Team “All DC shows are secretly connected,” you’re part of a fandom
that treats TV episodes as launchpads, not endpoints. And in a multiverse powered by belief,
that might be the most heroic superpower of all.

Final Thoughts: The CW May Be Over, But Theories Never End

The CW’s superhero universe changed how comic-book stories worked on television. It gave us
multi-show arcs, emotional crossovers, ridiculous time travel, and more doppelgängers than any
one HR department could reasonably manage. It also gave fans a sandbox where imagination
mattered just as much as official canon.

These 19 fan theories don’t just fill plot holes – they extend the life of the Arrowverse and
the wider CW superhero universe far beyond their final episodes. As long as fans keep asking
“What if…?” the story isn’t really over. Somewhere in the multiverse, the Waverider is still
flying, Barry is still running, and someone is definitely posting another wild theory thread.