Arrow has been airing on The CW since 2012 and has become pretty successful over the course of three seasons.  The Flash began last year as an Arrow spin-off and although I felt like it stumbled out of the gate, the show has managed to build its own identity and find success. The writers for both shows have clearly worked together to connect the two series, build a shared universe, plan crossover episodes and prepare another spinoff.  They’ve established ARGUS, STAR Labs, Amanda Waller, an impressive rogues gallery, including Deathstroke and the Suicide Squad, and given mainstream attention to Firestorm and the ATOM.

So why the hell isn’t Warner Bros. incorporating this universe into the movies?

Grant Gustin plays Barry Allen (the Flash) in the TV show and has done a great job of breathing life into this version of the character.  It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that the TV universe and movie universe may be related, but since the character has been recast to Ezra Miller for Batman V Superman this is probably not the plan.  I don’t know anything about Miller since I haven’t seen any of his work, but making the movies ignore this version does Gustin and those around him a great disservice.  We’ve already seen Barry make new friends, protect his old friends, deal with heartache, train to improve his powers and just grow as a hero.  And now we’ll have to do that all over again with Miller.  Even the star of Arrow finds this cast move insulting.

This move leaves Arrow out of the movie universe as well.  That show is responsible for all of these pieces coming together in the first place.  One episode in the second season had Gustin come in and set up the events that would kick off The Flash.  Since the two are tied together like this, you can’t have one without the other.  And then there’s the second spinoff that’s coming later this year and will bring other DC characters like Firestorm and Hawkgirl.

And let’s not forget the fans of both universes.  Ever since Marvel started their shared movie universe, they’ve kept everything simple and connected.  There’s only one timeline to follow; everything in the TV show affects the movies and vice versa.  If you split the two up like WB is trying to do, you confuse the fans who are trying to keep up with both.

Everyone has figured out that WB is just trying to match Marvel’s success with their movies, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that they don’t know exactly why it’s been so successful.  To me, it’s that they started by keeping everything simple before bringing it all together, which WB/DC are NOT doing.  With Green Lantern failing and Christopher Nolan making it very clear that his movies have nothing to do with a shared universe, these would have been a great complement to Man of Steel in terms of setting up The Justice League.  Lesser-known characters like Boomerang and Deadshot have already been established, helping them set up the Suicide Squad movie that’s already in the works.  As it stands, they’re just going to throw everyone into a single movie and disregard all of the work that’s come before.  No build-up, no establishment, just a whole bunch of strangers showing up to a party at once.  The writers, actors, and entire crews of Arrow and The Flash have accomplished so much that I can’t help but feel like this is an insult to them from the execs at WB.

Although, if the Batman V Superman trailer is any indication of what’s to come, I’m glad these universes are separate.