Superheroes and other fictional characters are often seen paying a visit to similar high-powered individuals in their shared universes. This happens quite often in comic books, with superheroes traveling through space and time to fight each other – or alongside each other. On TV and in the movies, crossovers are not as frequent, though – and sometimes, they are almost like “namedrops” rather than important parts of the story – like Spidey’s visit to the Avengers in “Captain America: Civil War”, for example. But sometimes, crossovers are great – like in the cases below.
Arrow/The Flash/Supergirl/Legends of Tomorrow (2016)
Last season, the Arrowverse has seen one of the most spectacular crossovers in TV history. For four episodes, the heroes in Arrow have teamed up with The Flash, Supergirl, and the Legends of Tomorrow in a quest over time and space to rid the world of an invading alien race known as the Dominators. The four-episode ark (each of the episodes connected to the story happens in their respective series) has depth, drama, some well-positioned jokes, and enough action to almost serve as a feature-length movie. Not to mention the team of eleven metahumans that seem ready to take on the top casinos of the world.
Doctor Who/Torchwood/The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008)
Not all superheroes “live” in the Marvel or DC universe. And not all of them are fighters either – BBC’s Doctor Who, for example, always uses wit and knowledge rather than violence to take on even the greatest threat (even if his life history includes the demise of billions of sentient beings). The long-running series has seen several episodes and specials when the Doctor crosses over with his previous incarnations (regenerations), including “The Day of the Doctor”, an episode where four of the character’s 12 incarnations meet, including the previously unknown “War Doctor”.
But the series has one of the most exciting crossover episodes, too – “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End”, concluding the (revived) series’ fourth season. In it, The Doctor and Donna Noble join forces with Captain Jack Harkness and his team (Torchwood) and Sarah Jane Smith, along with her living and cyber companions (The Sarah Jane Adventures) as well as several of the Doctor’s previous companions, like Rose Tyler and Martha Jones to prevent the Dalek from destroying the entire universe.
Eureka/Warehouse 13 and Warehouse 13/Eureka
We didn’t even know that two beloved SyFy series, Eureka and Warehouse 13, took place in the same universe – we only found out when Douglas Fargo, a goofy but brilliant scientist at the Global Dynamic, travels to Warehouse 13 to update their computer system. But a sentient security protocol sends the Warehouse on lockdown, threatening the lives of everyone inside. A few days later, Claudia from the Warehouse visits Fargo in Eureka, right in the middle of a temporal anomaly that transports random objects from a different time into the modern-day town, causing a lot of trouble for Sheriff Carter and the crew.
These were all great crossovers – but you surely know several more. Which one was your favorite?
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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