When the Arrowverse returns from its extended hiatus in 2021, multiple big characters from the various shows won’t be back for each new season. Since 2012, The CW has majorly expanded its lineup of DC TV series: Arrow created the Arrowverse, which has seen multiple spinoffs come to life. For 8 years now, the Arrowverse has brought several iconic DC characters to life — both heroes and villains — while also bringing in some of the lesser-known comics characters as well. But every season, the casts are changed to some degree, often due to actors opting to leave or characters being written off.
This past season became an instrumental one for the Arrowverse because it featured its biggest crossover of all time: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thanks to the 5-part event, Black Lightning has now joined the rest of the franchise, while the latest addition, Stargirl, was established to exist within the new Arrowverse multiverse on Earth-2. The post-Crisis Arrowverse featured significant changes, which paved the way for further shake-ups in each show; by the end of each's respective seasons, at least one major character was no longer a part of the main cast.
As the shows are all set to return in 2021, with most of them being eyed to premiere in January, viewers won’t be seeing several of their favorite characters back. While some of them could return, others simply can’t as they were killed off; however, in the Arrowverse, dead doesn’t always stay dead, so anything is possible. This is every major Arrowverse character who won’t return for the 2021 season.
After having portrayed the Green Arrow for 8 years, Stephen Amell’s time in the Arrowverse has come to an end after Arrow’s 8th and final season concluded in January. While his departure would naturally make him someone who wouldn’t come back next season, his ending became very definitive. Oliver served one of the largest roles in the Crisis as he was destined to die in the Multiverse game-changer. While he died twice in the crossover, Oliver did serve a major purpose because he came back as the Spectre to help reboot the Multiverse and create Earth-Prime. But with that, Oliver officially passed away once and for all.
While Green Arrow and the Canaries were meant to become Arrow’s final spinoff, it seems like they may not be coming back to the Arrowverse after all. After the airing of the backdoor pilot, The CW has still not given it a series order for the 2020-2021 TV season. Given that the network has already planned out its slate for the upcoming season, it’s almost impossible to get the spinoff into the line-up at least for 2020-2021. Currently, Mia Queen is serving as the new Green Arrow in Star City 2040 where she is working together with the two Black Canaries, Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake. Because of them being in the future, it takes them out from the Arrowverse in the present time at least.
The Flash faced a bit of controversy approximately a month after the sixth season came to an end. Hartley Sawyer, who has played Ralph Dibny a.k.a. Elongated Man since season 4, came under fire when several old racist and misogynist tweets of his resurfaced from years ago. As the tweets gained a lot of attention, Warner Bros. TV officially fired Sawyer from The Flash. While he was terminated from the DC drama, it seems like the Elongated Man might be done in the Arrowverse, as no new actor has been announced to replace Sawyer. Whether he gets replaced by a new DC character or not remains to be seen.
Ahead of Supergirl season 5, Mehcad Brooks announced that James Olsen would be leaving the series during the first half of the show’s fifth year. After having portrayed Superman’s best pal and the superhero Guardian for almost 5 years, Brooks has decided to explore new opportunities. James Olsen is still alive in Arrowverse: As CatCo faced new management with Andrea Rojas, James headed towards a new chapter in life in his final episodes of Supergirl. He ended up moving to Calvintown and purchased its local newspaper Calvintown Gazette. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, James has barely been referenced.
While Batwoman left on several cliffhangers, they’re nothing compared to the bigger surprise that leading star Ruby Rose was dropping on the viewers, right after the season 1 finale. Following the airing of the 20th episode, Rose announced that she would not be returning to the series for the second season as she was stepping down from the role of Kate Kane. This became a first for the Arrowverse, as none of the other shows have ever lost their leading star. Little is known about how they’ll write her out as Javicia Leslie takes over as the new Batwoman — other than Kate will missing when the new season starts.
Months before the new season of Legends of Tomorrow began, the show revealed one of its coming shake-ups in the cast: Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford, who respectively play Ray Palmer/The Atom and Nora Darhk, were set to leave the show in the middle of its fifth season. While the actors have made it clear that it wasn’t their decision to leave, their characters Ray and Nora did end up leaving the time-traveling series in a tearful, but positive, way. After they were married and helped their fellow Legends stop Encores, they decided to leave the Waverider together as they exited the series in the season’s 7th episode.
While Ray and Nora's exits were bittersweet, they weren't the only characters to leave Legends of Tomorrow this past season. Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who has been with the Arrowverse since the second season of the ensemble drama, wrapped up her run in the fifth season as well. Having played Charlie since the fourth season, Sellers's character had a big arc in Legends of Tomorrow season 5, in which she was revealed to be Clotho, one of the Fates. By the end of the season, Charlie had now become mortal due to the Loom of Fate being destroyed. Now that she doesn't have to worry about her sisters pursuing her anymore, Charlie decided to return to her band, The Smell, and live a peaceful life as a regular human being.
While Black Lightning's biggest change this season was having its Earth merged with the other Arrowverse heroes, the show saw another change as well: Damon Gupton, who has played inspector-now-Chief Bill Henderson for three seasons, announced via Twitter that he'd not be returning for the fourth season after wrapping his final episode. Similarly to Routh and Ford, it seems like it wasn't Gupton's choice to leave the Arrowverse. During the final showdowns in the season finale, Henderson gets shot by a Markovian soldier after he saves Black Lightning and Lightning from being killed. What follows is a heartbreaking exchange between him and Jefferson as Black Lightning sees his long-time friend pass away in front of him.
As the new seasons get ready to start filming in Vancouver, Canada, and Atlanta, Georgia (in Black Lightning's case), only time will tell what other characters may leave their respective Arrowverse show next year. With the arrival of Superman & Lois as the franchise's next spinoff, new characters are joining the franchise as of January 2021. There have already been a few series regular upgrades on some of the shows, which means that some other old-time favorites may be leaving the Arrowverse after this coming season.
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