7 Times The Flash Improved DC Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)

2. Introduced Casual Audiences To The Multiverse

At several different points, the Arrowverse has dabbled in the concept of alternative Earths and alternative timelines. And the show that first properly introduced alternative Earths was The Flash.

In the second season episode ‘Welcome to Earth-2’, The Flash saw its titular hero heading to the skewed world of Earth-2. The reason for that trip was to rescue Jesse Quick, the daughter of Earth-2’s Harry Wells – and as Barry, Cisco, and Harry travel to Earth-2, the series delivered a scene where there were glimpses at Supergirl, Connor Hawke as Green Arrow, Gorilla Grodd, Jonah Hex, and several other Easter eggs.

Of course, Supergirl, Connor, Grodd, and Hex were all at this point either on an alternative Earth or from an alternative future.

By this point in time, casual audiences or non-comic book fans were likely not aware of the concept of the multiverse and of alternative Earths. And if they had heard of this notion, chances were they didn’t really know what it exactly all meant.

What The Flash did, was it introduced the multiverse, explained what it was, and these alternative Earths were later incorporated across all of the Arrowverse shows – often due to a timely annual crossover between these series - before Crisis on Infinite Earths saw these worlds merge.