9 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About The Arrowverse

2. It Needs A Bigger Budget

The CW

It's a simple fact that, in 2017, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to gorgeous looking TV.

HBO, Amazon and Netflix are titans of the medium, able to finance their most ambitious works so that each and every show can fully articulate their own vision. Even shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones - series that root themselves squarely in the noir-ish inflections of the MCU and New York in particular - command a respectful budget. They look good, and while we're yet to see Netflix attempt to make a Marvel series with the scope of, say, Legends of Tomorrow, the presumption is that if they were to do so, it would look hella good.

The problem with the Arrowverse is that, no matter how much it may try to emulate classic DC - with all its dimension-hopping shenanigans - it doesn't have the budget to sustain it. Legends, for all its loving references to classic DC literature (and they are appreciated), will always be let down by the fact it isn't visually appealing.

It might sound facile, or even vein, but in an age of HBO blockbusters and Netflix Originals, it just can't compete.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.